Funny How It Fades Away
by DrAftershave
Summary: Ryan & Calleigh. Sequel to I'm Not Running Anymore. There is no happy ending in true love because true love is neverending.
1. A New Life Begins

**CHAPTER 1**

**Calleigh was lost again. She thought by now that she would know how to get home, but she kept forgetting to turn on the street that would lead her to her place. Every time she thought that she was heading in the right direction, she ended up being off by a few blocks. Being a CSI, she knew pretty well how to get around the city of Miami when it came to cases, but it was a little bit embarrassing that she couldn't even find her own way home. Ryan knew how to get there pretty well, but she had trouble remembering all of his shortcuts.**

"**Damn it, Ryan. Why did you have to take the day off?" Calleigh reached for her cellphone and dialed the number to her place to leave a message on the machine.**

"**Hello?" Ryan said as he picked up the phone.**

"**Ryan! You're home! I didn't think you were going to be there."**

"**I decided to paint the second bedroom today since I got home early." Ryan sat down on the new sofa in their living room. After ten months of dating and practically spending every weekend at each other's place, they decided to take the plunge and move in together. They were quickly able to find a place that they both felt comfortable to live with each other. The only problem was that it was an extra 20 minute drive for the both of them to work and the area had some very confusing roads, leading Calleigh to struggle with remembering which roads to take to and from her new home.**

"**Cal, no…you don't want to turn left onto Harper. You want to take Benson down three more blocks, and then turn left onto Woodbine." **

"**Why can't I just take the freeway?" Calleigh was getting frustrated.**

"**If you take the freeway, you'll go pass the apartment because there is no exit from the freeway near us. You'll have to go up 2 miles and backtrack. Taking the side roads gets you directly here from work."**

"**I'd rather backtrack than have to drive through this shit everyday."**

"**Trust me, Cal. Once you get the hang of it, you'll have no trouble in getting home."**

**Calleigh turned onto Woodbine and drove a few blocks. Suddenly, she recognized her street up on the right. "I made it. I'll see you in a couple minutes. Thanks, hon."**

"**No problem." Ryan hung up the phone and sighed. He looked around the room and smiled. This place wasn't his place. It was _their_ place. Sure, it was going to take time to get used to not living alone, but Ryan didn't want to live alone anymore. It would upset him to be with Calleigh on the weekends and then return to being alone during the week. Sure, there were times when they were together on a work night, but the distance between their own apartments and their job schedules made it too difficult. He was fed up with the whole situation. He wanted to live with Calleigh. It would be wrong _not_ to.**

**Ryan walked back into the second bedroom to close the paint cans and clean up. As he shut the lid on the second can, paint splattered from the rim and landed on his shirt. As he placed the paint cans onto the closet shelf, he heard the sound of someone unlocking the front door. He walked back into the living room to see Calleigh coming in through the door.**

"**Hey handsome. Did you miss me?" Calleigh shut the door behind her and approached Ryan. As she reached out to him, he stepped back.**

"**What's wrong?" Calleigh's voice was a mixture of confusion and hurt.**

"**Nothing's wrong." Ryan started taking off his shirt. "I just got fresh paint on this shirt. I don't need to get any on you." He laid the shirt over a stool. "That's better." He reached for Calleigh and gave her a deep kiss. **

**Calleigh wrinkled her nose. "Someone needs to take a shower."**

"**Sorry. I worked up a sweat doing things around the house. I was planning to take one a while ago, but I got distracted by a phone call from some crazy woman." Ryan let out a little smirk as Calleigh playfully smacked him on the arm.**

**Calleigh leaned up again to kiss Ryan. "You want me to join you in that shower?"**

"**I would like that." Ryan took her hand and they started down the hallway.**

"**I'm curious to see if the soap dispenser can support half of my body weight again." Calleigh said in a somewhat naughty voice.**

"**So am I."**

**-_45 minutes later_-**

**The two of them were going through boxes that still needed to be unpacked and put away. Ryan had already finished unpacking his belongings earlier in the day and was now helping Calleigh with hers. **

"**Can you put this box in the bathroom?" Calleigh handed Ryan a box of bathroom supplies.**

"**Would you like me to make some pasta for dinner?" Ryan asked as he headed towards the bathroom.**

"**Pasta would be great."**

**As Ryan left the living room, he accidentally knocked over a stack of Calleigh's boxes. As the top box hit the floor, a shoebox fell out. Suddenly, the box started emitting a buzzing sound. Ryan set down his box to clean up the spill and as he picked up the shoebox, it was slightly vibrating. "Calleigh, do you have a pager in here?" Ryan opened the shoebox as Calleigh approached him. To Ryan's shock it wasn't a pager, but a big gray vibrator. **

"**Oh! Um…" Calleigh's face quickly turned red as she took the box out of Ryan's hands and reached in to turn the vibrator off. **

"**I didn't know you had that." Ryan had a look of amusement on his face.**

"**I, uh got at a bachelorette party a few years ago. The bride thought it would be funny if all of the bridesmaids got one as a thank you gift. Honestly, I would have never bought one for myself." **

"**So…naturally you left it in the box and haven't seen it until now."**

"**I'm not saying that." Calleigh let a wicked smile form on her face.**

"**Oh _really_." Ryan crossed his arms and pretended to act serious.**

**Calleigh closed the box and bent down to place it back into the one it fell out of. "Hey, it got me through some dark nights alone. But I found a replacement that's almost as good."**

"**Almost as good?" Ryan's jaw slightly dropped at Calleigh's comment.**

**Calleigh looked up at him. "I'm joking, sweetie." She stood back up and kissed Ryan. "You're much better."**

**Suddenly, Calleigh's cellphone went off. Calleigh walked into the kitchen to answer it as Ryan finished picking up the spilled boxes. She recognized the number. "Horatio?"**

"**Calleigh? Is Ryan there with you?"**

"**Yes he is."**

"**I need the two of you to come in right now." Horatio shifted uneasily in his seat. "There's been a shooting at a crime scene that was being processed and there are some casualties."**

"**A shooting at a crime scene? You need us to come in and assist the night shift with the victims?"**

"**Calleigh…some of the victims _are_ the night shift."**

**_to be continued_…**


	2. Living With The Past

**CHAPTER 2**

"**What?" Calleigh was shocked over Horatio's comment. She paused briefly before speaking again. "What happened?"**

"**I'll give you the details when you get down here. Grab Ryan and leave immediately."**

"**Ok." Calleigh hung up her phone. She walked back into the living room where Ryan was opening another box. "H. needs us to come in right away. There's been a shooting at a crime scene that involved the night crew."**

**Ryan stopped unpacking and looked up. "What happened?"**

"**I don't know yet. H. said he'll brief us when we arrive."**

**The two of them quickly dressed and left for headquarters. Pulling into the parking lot, they met up with Eric, who had just arrived himself. The three of them walked into the building. As they approached the labs, Horatio came around the corner and motioned them to follow him up to his office. When they were all inside, Horatio closed the door.**

"**H, what is going on?" Eric asked as he turned to face Horatio.**

"**There was a robbery at a convenience store and the owner was shot and killed; his wife was able to call 911 before she was also shot and killed. Apparently, the shooter was unable to escape before the police arrived and hid somewhere in the store. When patrol arrived, they failed to find the shooter despite doing a sweep of the store. They assumed that he was on the run. The night shift went out with Detective Hagen to process the scene." Horatio paused and looked over at Ryan and Calleigh. "As the crew was working, the shooter took his chance and tried to escape before he would be discovered. C.S.I. Fuchs, noticed him and pulled out his gun and ordered the suspect to drop his weapon. Instead, the suspect opened fire at Fuchs, killing him instantly. C.S.I. Bennings and one of the officers each quickly fired a round at the suspect and hit him, but not before the suspect fired off a few more shots. One shot struck C.S.I. Palmer in the leg. Another…" Horatio trailed off and looked down at the floor, letting out a heavy sigh.**

"**Horatio? Did someone else get killed?" Calleigh looked at Ryan, then back at Horatio, waiting for an answer.**

**Horatio winced. " Detective Hagen was hit in the side of the head…he died on the way to the hospital."**

"**Oh my god." Calleigh covered her mouth with her hand. A look of shock and disbelief formed on Eric and Ryan's faces. The room was silent for a moment.**

**Ryan cleared his throat. "When did this all happen?"**

"**About 30 minutes ago. Lt. Bowman called me from the crime scene, requesting our team. Alexx is already down there. We need to go now ourselves." Horatio reached for his keys.**

**Ryan looked at Calleigh. The color had drained from her face. He knew that before he joined the team, she dated Hagen. He never asked how close she was to him; he figured it was none of his business. Besides, he really didn't want to know about her past relationships with other men. He was about to ask Calleigh if she was ok, when Horatio spoke up.**

"**Eric, take Ryan with you. We'll be right along in a few minutes." **

**Ryan looked at Horatio. He wanted to protest Horatio's decision and ride along with Calleigh, but he knew better than to question an order. Ryan took another brief look at Calleigh. She quickly looked at him before turning her eyes away and down. Ryan looked back at Horatio and nodded in response to Horatio's request. Without another word, he and Eric left the office.**

**Horatio waited until they were both gone, and then walked over to Calleigh. "Are you going to be ok?" He put his arm around her.**

"**I'll be fine." Calleigh blinked back her tears.**

"**If you want, I can put MacReady on the case."**

"**No, I can handle this. Let's go."**

**Calleigh and Horatio went downstairs and got into Horatio's hummer. For a few minutes, they were silent. Horatio would occasionally look over at Calleigh, who was looking down at her lap, deep in thought. Despite how bad her relationship became with Hagen, there were some good moments. However, his behavior and other circumstances over time caused her to end it between the two of them. He didn't want it to end, but she had enough. She hoped that the two of them could still work together professionally and he eventually honored her decision, but every once in a while, he would say or do something that would remind her of how bad he treated her personally. When he found out that she was dating Ryan, he made it well known that he didn't like it at all. Ryan was mature enough to blow off any comments he might have overheard about him, but Calleigh was a different matter. During their last case together, Hagen made an off-hand comment about how he wouldn't date people who were still in high school, alluding to the fact about Ryan being younger than her. It took all of her willpower not to slap him. That was about a week ago, the last time she saw him alive. She broke away from her thoughts and slowly looked up.**

"**I never told John about the baby."**

**Horatio sighed. "Did Ryan know?"**

"**No, I never told him. I was afraid of his reaction, especially if he were to go and confront John about it. And with John not knowing to begin with, it would have opened up a whole new can of worms. I was also afraid that Ryan would leave me if he knew."**

"**I think Ryan would've handled it like an adult and not leave you, Cal."**

"**Still, I can't shake the feeling that he would take it the wrong way. I always wished that I could have told John about it, but I could never find the right time. I didn't want to be reminded of what I went through with him. Now he's never going to know." Calleigh started to cry.**

**Horatio frowned. He never liked seeing Calleigh in so much pain. It hurt him when she suffered. He wished that she wouldn't be so hard on herself. She needed to let go of a few things and get on with her life and be happy for once. It pleased him to know that Ryan was there for her when he wasn't around. He was happy that Ryan was in her life and gave her some comfort. But there were still some things inside of her that sadly no one could heal. He reached over and squeezed her hand gently. "Are you sure that you want to work on this case?"**

"**I'll be fine, Horatio. It would be closure for me, I guess. I shouldn't let memories get in the way." She wiped away the tears in her eyes and composed herself.**

"**We're here." Horatio pulled the Hummer onto a side street and parked. They both got out and met up with Eric and Ryan, who were getting their kits. Calleigh and Ryan looked at each other. Ryan could tell that Calleigh was crying, but he knew it was not the time to say anything. She gave him a small grin. He smiled back. The four of them slowly approached the crime scene tape surrounding the area.**

**_to be continued_…**


	3. All Through The Night

**A/N: There are a few swears in this Chapter. Thought you might like to know before you read on.

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CHAPTER 3**

**As the team crossed over the yellow tape, Lt. Bowman approached them. Horatio motioned the team to continue on as he stopped to talk to the Lieutenant. Horatio looked over Bowman's shoulder. There were multiple camera crews crowded together outside the perimeter, reporting on the tragedy as various officers directed personnel and cleanup crews in the area. **

"**I appreciate you getting your team out here on such a short notice." **

"**No problem. How's the rest of your team holding up?"**

"**Bennings and Officer Nauls were relieved of duty because they were involved in the shootout and are now currently heading back to headquarters to talk to I.A. Norris is being treated for shock; he almost got hit himself. Dr. Copper is assisting your coroner right now." Lt. Bowman let his guard slightly down, showing a look of sadness on his face over losing half of his team.**

**Horatio reached out and patted Bowman's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss."**

"**Thanks. I understand that you used to work with Det. Hagen quite a bit yourself."**

"**That I did." Horatio looked over in Calleigh's direction to see what she was doing.**

**Bowman looked down. "I need to make a few phone calls. If I recall, Hagen has no family living out here. Fuchs left behind a wife and two kids. I need to go over to his house with the chaplain personally and tell his wife before the media gets a hold of who died."**

"**Dave, I'll need to get your statement when you are done with the chaplain." Both Bowman and Horatio turned to see Stetler standing next to them. Neither one of them realized that he came up while they were talking.**

"**Can't this wait until the morning?"**

"**Dave, I'm sorry. We need to follow procedure."**

"**For Christ sake, Rick! How do you expect me to be in the mood to talk after I tell Teresa that her husband won't be coming home?"**

**Bowman leaned forward at Stetler; almost in a position that Horatio took as being threatening. He reached out his arm and held Bowman back. "Dave…"**

**Horatio looked over and glared at Stetler before quickly composing himself. "Rick, given the circumstances, we just lost two of our own. I don't think waiting until morning is going to be a big deal. Your report will get done."**

**Stetler thought it over for a moment. "You're right, Horatio. I'm sorry." He looked at Bowman. "Tomorrow morning, 9am. My office. Then I want you to see the counselor." He gave Horatio another look before turning around and walking back.**

"**Fucking prick." Bowman muttered. "How the hell can someone that uncaring towards his own people be in charge?"**

"**I don't know." Horatio replied. Bowman did have a point. Horatio couldn't believe that despite what happened, Stetler didn't care and just wanted to follow procedure like a programmed robot. Maybe it came with being in I.A. You just learn not to care so you can handle the job. Or the fact that Bowman was right and Stetler was just a prick anyway. Horatio thought back to Speed's death. Stetler was just the same then: wanted the statement and for Horatio to see the company shrink. Sometimes, Horatio just wanted to punch Stetler in the face and then tell him to write a report on _that_. What did Yelina see in this guy anyway?**

**Horatio collected his thoughts and turned his attention back to Bowman. "Are you going to be alright?"**

"**Yeah. Thanks for stopping me. I think I would have knocked Stetler on his ass. That would have been enough therapy for me."**

**Horatio let out a brief smile. "Go and take care of your business. We have it handled here."**

"**See you soon." Bowman walked back over to where the other policeman were. Horatio looked over and noticed that Calleigh was now standing where Hagen was shot. He walked over to her.**

"**How are you holding up?"**

"**I'm fine." Calleigh said softly as she looked at the huge red stain on the ground. "I see Stetler didn't waste his time showing up."**

"**No, he didn't."**

**Calleigh was about to say something else before she changed her mind. "I better get back to work." She managed to say instead before she picked up her kit and headed towards the entrance of the store. Horatio watched her go inside before he made his rounds at the crime scene. About 2 hours later, the team returned to headquarters with the evidence they collected. Horatio told them that he would have the night lab techs handle the processing of the evidence so the team could rest up for the long day that they were going to have tomorrow. Ryan and Calleigh walked back to her car without saying a word to each other. As Calleigh reached for her keys, she stopped.**

"**Can you drive us back? I don't have it in me to drive."**

"**Sure." Ryan took the keys from Calleigh and they both got in.**

**They drove for a few minutes in silence. Finally, Ryan looked over at Calleigh.**

"**Are you ok?"**

"**I'll be fine when I get home and get some sleep." Calleigh started to yawn.**

**Ryan pressed on. "No. Over what happened tonight."**

**Calleigh frowned. "What do you think, Ryan? We just lost two of our men from some coldhearted prick who didn't care about killing other people." **

"**I'm talking about Hagen. I know the two of you dated for a while. I just-"**

"**What do you know?" Calleigh cut him off. You apparently don't know shit about what happened between John and I. I don't want to talk about it, ok? Just get us home." She leaned back in her chair and stared forward.**

**Ryan was stunned. Calleigh had never snapped at him before. True, she's argued with him in the past, but this was the first time she ever went off like that. He swallowed his throat and continue to drive in silence, not daring to say anything else. When they arrived back at the apartment, Calleigh went straight into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, obviously indicating that she wanted to be left alone. Ryan noticed that the answering machine was blinking. He walked over and hit the button.**

"**_hey, this is terry, your superintendent . i got the message about the soap dispenser in your shower being broken. i will get someone out to your place in the morning and fix it. take care._"**

**Ryan bowed his head and groaned. This was going to be a long night. **

**At this point, Calleigh had the shower running. She sat in the tub, hugging her knees and crying her eyes out. She didn't think that John Hagen's death would affect her this badly. She hated his guts for the way he treated her in the end of their relationship and the way he acted afterwards. She felt guilty not being able to settle the bad blood between the two of them. She then felt angry at him, for making her feel guilty that they didn't resolve any animosity they had towards each other even though he was responsible for it. She rubbed her stomach and remembered what happened to her after they broke up, which caused her to cry some more. She didn't know what Ryan would do if he found out. Ryan. She thought about their conversation in the car. She felt so bad to snap at him like that. He didn't know. He treats her the way she wants to be treated and yet she chewed him out over something that he didn't know anything about. It wasn't his fault. **

**Calleigh finally got up and bathed herself after sitting in the shower for 20 minutes. She then got out and went into the bedroom. Ryan was already asleep. She climbed into bed and snuggled up against him, causing him to stir somewhat. "I'm sorry about earlier." She whispered. She didn't know if he heard her or not. Suddenly, she felt his arms wrap around her. **

"**I love you." He mumbled before drifting back off to sleep. **

_**to be continued…**_


	4. Stand By Love

**A/N: Mature scene ahead.**

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**CHAPTER 4**

**Calleigh awoke to the alarm buzzer going off. Groggily, she reached up and hit the snooze button. She rolled over to put her arms around Ryan, only to discover that he wasn't in bed. "That's unusual," she thought to herself, because Ryan would always sleep through her alarm and not get up until his went off 30 minutes later. As she sat up in bed, she could hear the water running in the bathroom. Realizing that he was taking a shower, Calleigh got up and walked toward the bathroom, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She opened the door. Despite taking a shower last night, Calleigh decided to join Ryan in his. She took off her t-shirt and panties and quietly entered the bathtub. Ryan's back was to her, oblivious to her being behind him as he bathed. She gently wrapped her arms around his waist, causing him to jump.**

"**Ahh!" Ryan turned around to face Calleigh. "Calleigh, you scared me. I didn't even know you were here."**

"**I'm sorry. I was concerned when I woke up and you weren't next to me."**

"**I couldn't sleep. I felt bad about what happened last night."**

**Calleigh lowered her head. "I'm sorry about that, Ryan. I shouldn't have snapped at you."**

**Ryan reached up and lifted her head so her eyes would meet his. "I'm the one who should apologize. I shouldn't be asking questions about your personal life that is none of my business."**

"**Thank you." Calleigh answered. She wanted to explain to him what she went through, but she couldn't bring herself to. Not yet. "I want to tell you, but I-"**

**Ryan placed a finger over her mouth, silencing her. "It's ok. When you feel that it's time to talk about it, we can." He leaned down to kiss her.**

**She kissed back, warmly. Then she started to kiss him passionately. As she placed one hand on the back of his neck to draw him closer to her, she reached down with her other hand and started stroking his penis. Ryan broke away from their kiss. "Oh…" He started breathing heavily from her touch. Calleigh continued to stroke him. She then slowly knelt down in front of him and ran her tongue gently up his shaft, stopping to kiss the head of his penis. She then took him into her mouth, feeling his body thrust toward her as she moved her head back and forth. Ryan's breathing became shallow and uneven. "Calleigh…" he hissed through gritted teeth as he lowered his hands down and ran his fingers through her hair. Calleigh could feel him tensing up; she knew he was about to come. She stroked him with her mouth faster. Ryan let out a heavy groan as he climaxed, releasing himself inside of her. He suddenly leaned against the wall of the shower, completely exhausted. Calleigh stood up and washed herself under the stream of water before turning her attention back to Ryan.**

"**You didn't have to do that." He said, quietly.**

"**I wanted to." Calleigh reached for the soap and started to lather up. "We better hurry. We don't want to be late for work."**

**They got out of the shower and ate breakfast before heading into work. As they walked in, they passed Stetler who stared at them as he went by, with Lt. Bowman walking behind him with a sullen look on his face. Understandably, everyone was in a down mood over the deaths of Hagen and Fuchs the night before and the place was eerily more quiet than usual. As they approached the labs, they spotted Valera walking out of trace.**

"**Maxine!" Calleigh said, causing Valera to stop and turn around.**

"**Hey, you two."**

**Ryan noticed that Valera was wearing her lab coat. "They let you back on?"**

**Valera nodded. "I'm still on probation, but given that we're short half of the night team, Stetler put me back on to help out. I'd rather be back under happier circumstances, though."**

**Eric came around the corner and saw the three of them talking. "Good. I got all three of you together. H. wants to speak to us in his office."**

**They all went back upstairs and into Horatio's office. Alexx was already there, sitting in a chair and talking to Horatio. He stood up from his chair when he saw the rest of the team come in. **

"**Thanks, Eric." He motioned to Ryan, who was the last inside, to shut the door behind him.**

"**As you may well know by now, Valera has been reinstated to help out the department. She will be working with us for a few days and then transfer to the night shift. Good to have you back with us." Horatio looked at Valera.**

"**Thank you." She replied.**

**Horatio continued. "There will be a memorial service for both Hagen and Fuchs today at 6 in the auditorium. Funeral services for both will be known by tomorrow. As usual, if you need to speak to a counselor, please go and do so."**

**The team discussed about cases for the day before leaving Horatio's office. Calleigh went on ahead down to ballistics, while Eric and Ryan stood outside of Horatio's office and watched Valera also go back downstairs.**

"**It's nice to have her back." Ryan said to Eric as they started to walk.**

"**It sure is. I missed having her sarcasm around. I could always depend on her or Speed to make light of a heavy situation." Eric opened the door to the breakroom and went inside. Ryan followed him in.**

**Eric poured himself a cup of coffee. "I swore to myself that I would stop drinking this shit. You want a cup?"**

"**No thanks. Calleigh and I stopped at a Starbucks on the way in."**

**Eric turned around and faced Ryan. "How is she holding up?"**

**Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, I guess. She keeps some things to herself and I've learned not to ask."**

"**Good move. If Cal wants you to know something personal about her, she'll tell you. Don't even bother to push it if she won't answer. I made that mistake once."**

"**What happened?" Ryan was curious.**

"**It was about two years ago. Speed, Cal and I went out for some drinks. After Speed bet that he could out drink me and then lost the bet, he had the brilliant idea to have the three of us play a round of '20 questions'. And then he made me go first by asking Calleigh a question."**

"**Uh-oh." Ryan muttered.**

"**Yeah. I was _hammered_. I was surprised that I could still speak coherently. Apparently, I asked Calleigh something along the lines if Hagen was a better lover than a coworker. And the way I asked it was a little graphic, from what Speed told me later. I didn't mean to ask it like that; it just came out that way. She got up and stormed out of the bar. It took me a week of apologizing profusely before she forgave me. **

"**Um…" Ryan felt a little uneasy listening about Calleigh with John. His reaction did not go unnoticed to Eric.**

"**Hey, Ryan…I better get back to work. See you later." Eric patted Ryan's shoulder as he left the breakroom.**

**Ryan stood there alone for the moment. "Me too, I guess." He turned and walked out.**

_-A few days later-_

**The team and the majority of the police force were present at Fuchs' funeral. There would be no public funeral for Hagen; his mother requested that her son's body be delivered back to his home state of Ohio for a private family burial. Calleigh felt her heart sink in her chest watching Fuchs' wife sob uncontrollably as she accepted the flag from the officer. Calleigh looked down at Fuchs' children who were too young to understand quite fully at what was going on. She felt bad knowing that his children would never have their father around ever again. She also felt bad that she wouldn't be able to attend Hagen's funeral, at least to pay final respects and have some sense of closure. She went as far as to talk to Hagen's mother and ask if she could come, but his mother refused her request. She wanted the burial to be private. Ryan placing his hand on her shoulder broke Calleigh's thoughts. She looked up at him.**

"**Are you ok?" He asked.**

"**I'm fine." She let out a small smile as she took his hand into hers and squeezed it lightly. "At least I will be." She said to herself. She was glad that Ryan was around. She would have fallen apart if he weren't there to hold her together. She listened to the rifles go off and wondered if things would ever return to normal. Calleigh felt that if she were to heal completely, she would have to tell Ryan about what happened between Hagen and herself. Maybe soon.**

**The funeral ended and Calleigh and Ryan made their way over to Fuchs' widow to give their condolences. The two of them then headed back to work with the rest of the team. Things would slowly get back to normal around headquarters, but for Calleigh and Ryan, getting back to normal was still a long ways away.**

_**to be continued…**_


	5. In More Ways Than One

**A/N: For some reason, this chapter took a lot out of me trying to get it out. The poem in the card came out of the top of my head. I hope you like it. Enjoy.**

******Roger **

******

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**

******CHAPTER 5**

******It had been two months since the shooting and normalcy had returned to the department. Calleigh had come into work early to get a head start on a new case. She walked into the breakroom to see Alexx already there, standing next to a table and setting down a vase that was holding a dozen red roses.**

**"****What's this?" Calleigh walked over to Alexx.**

**"****Honey, these are for you. There actually was a delivery guy this morning when I came in. I just signed for them."**

**"****Is it from…yes, it is!" Calleigh squealed with delight as she looked at the back of the card to see Ryan's name on it. "Ryan sent these."**

**"****What's the occasion?" Alexx asked as Calleigh opened the card. Then it dawned on her. "Calleigh, is today your anniversary?"**

**"****Yes. As of today, we have been together one year." Calleigh thought back to the moment she and Ryan kissed for the first time in ballistics a year ago. "He didn't forget." Calleigh smiled.**

**"****Aww, that's so sweet of him. Bless his heart." Alexx said as her pager started buzzing. She looked at it. "I have to go. Duty calls. Give him a kiss for me when he comes in."**

******Calleigh smirked. "I'll give him a kiss big enough for the both of us."**

******Alexx chuckled as she left the breakroom. Calleigh went to read the card.**

**_Calleigh-_**

**_These twelve roses mean so many different things:_**

**_How many seconds it takes before I start to miss you_**

**_How many times a minute I think about you_**

**_How many times I wish I can see you in a hour at work_**

**_How many times a day that I tell you that I love you_**

**_How many times we make love to each other in a week_**

******Calleigh blushed at reading the last line. She continued to read on.**

**_How many months we've been together_**

**_How many years I've wished we were already together for and finally_**

**_How many decades I want to spend my life with you. I love you Calleigh._**

**_Ryan_**

******Calleigh wiped the tears from her eyes. She was so moved from what she just read. She blew her nose as Valera walked in.**

**"****Oh, hey Calleigh. You're here early." Valera paused as she saw the state that Calleigh was in. "Are you ok?"**

**"****I'm fine. Couldn't be any happier. Ryan sent me some roses." Calleigh moved slightly aside to show the roses to Valera.**

**"****Lucky girl." Valera walked over to take a closer look. She suddenly let out a huge yawn. "Sorry." She said as she covered her mouth.**

**"****That's ok. Long night?" Calleigh placed Ryan's card into her lab coat.**

**"****It sure is. I don't leave for another hour." Valera had been on the night shift for about a month now. She still wasn't fully adjusted to the long hours, her mind still wanting to sleep during the night. "I came in to get my coffee for the umpteenth time. Is Ryan here too?"**

**"****No, but he's probably on his way in now. He had these delivered for our anniversary."**

**"****Did you have to remind him that's it's your anniversary?"**

**"****Not at all." Calleigh said, with a hint of pride in her voice.**

**"****Wow, I'm impressed. You have him trained well."**

******Calleigh laughed. "Trained?"**

**"****Well, he does follow you around at times like a lovesick puppy, obeying your every command."**

******Calleigh grinned at Valera's analogy of Ryan. "Let's just say that he's 'trained' well because he's learned a lot of stuff that he never did before."**

**"****Never did before, huh?"**

**"****Well, he really didn't know anything about the love of a woman until he met me."**

**"****Until he met you?" Valera stared at Calleigh. "You mean love like 'real love' or first time lov-" Valera noticed the reaction on Calleigh's face. Valera's mouth dropped. "No…"**

**"****Um…" Calleigh started to blush. She didn't mean to talk this intimately about her relationship with Ryan to Valera.**

**"****Are you telling me Cal, that he's a vir-"**

**"****Was." Calleigh cut Valera off before she could finish her sentence.**

**"****Oh, my god. Well, he is a little dorky. I guess that really didn't send the women into his direction. Present company excluded, of course."**

**"****Thank you." Calleigh didn't know if she was just insulted or not. Valera noticed the scowl on her face.**

**"****Calleigh, you know what I mean. I think he's very attractive, in a Alex P. Keaton kind of way. I don't mean it as a insult, just a observation."**

**"****I know."**

******Valera paused for a moment. "Please don't mind me asking this, but is he good?"**

******A naughty smile formed on Calleigh's face. "Wouldn't you like to know." **

******Valera laughed. "Like I said, you have him trained well. Here, boy." Valera started imitating a person playing with a dog. Calleigh couldn't help but giggle. Just then, Ryan walked in.**

**"****Maxine." Calleigh motioned to Valera to stop. Valera looked over to see Ryan standing in the doorway. She composed herself and grabbed her coffee. "I better get back to work. See you later, Cal."**

******Valera walked over to Ryan. "Nice collar," she said as she looked over Ryan while walking on by. Ryan was baffled but Calleigh knew what Valera meant. She quickly covered her mouth so Ryan wouldn't see her laugh.**

**"****What was that about?"**

**"****Oh, nothing." Calleigh answered. **

******As Ryan approached Calleigh, he looked behind her. "I see the roses came."**

**"****Yes, they did. They're beautiful. So is the poem you wrote me. Come here, you." Calleigh reached up to pull Ryan down to kiss him. "I love you so much."**

**"****I love you, too." Ryan wrapped his arms around Calleigh's waist and lifted her off the ground, kissing her the entire time.**

******Suddenly, they heard someone behind them clearing his throat. Ryan turned his head to see Horatio standing there. "I guess the anniversary wouldn't be complete unless H. was standing behind me." He whispered into her ear. Calleigh laughed as he set her down. **

**"****Am I interrupting something?" Horatio asked.**

**"****No, no. Everything's fine." Calleigh answered as she reached over to pick up the vase. "I better get to ballistics. See you later, sweetie." She stood on her tiptoes to give Ryan a quick kiss.**

******Ryan waited until she left the breakroom. "Horatio, I would like to speak to you for a moment."**

**"****What is it about?" Horatio opened the cabinet to retrieve his coffee mug.**

**"****It's about Calleigh." **

**"****What about her?"**

**"****I'm taking her to Lombardi's tonight for our anniversary." Ryan looked down at the floor.**

******Horatio poured himself a cup of coffee. "And?"**

******Ryan gave himself the nerve to look at Horatio in the eyes when he turned around to look at Ryan. "I'm going to ask her to marry me."**

******Horatio stood there and looked at Ryan. "Ok."**

******Ryan shifted his weight from one foot to another. "I want your permission to marry her."**

******Horatio gave Ryan a quizzed look. "Why me? Shouldn't you be asking her father for permission?"**

**"****Horatio, you've been more of a father to Calleigh than her own father has. Besides, I'd rather get your blessing than his, given the circumstances."**

******Horatio slowly nodded in agreement. Ken was in prison, for vehicular manslaughter; his drinking and driving finally caught up to him. He was in for ten years.**

******Horatio walked over to Ryan. "Ryan…I'm very flattered that you want my blessing. For the year and a half that I've known you, you have gone way beyond proving yourself. I see how happy Calleigh is now that you're in her life. You give her the peace and happiness she deserves. I see nothing wrong with you wanting to be her husband. I would have to say yes…I give you my permission."**

**"****Thank you, Horatio." Ryan leaned forward towards Horatio to hug him, then thought otherwise and stopped.**

******Horatio didn't hesitate. "It's ok." He pulled Ryan into a embrace. "Calleigh's a strong woman. She can handle a lot on her own. But you take care of her, ok?"**

**"****I will." Ryan answered.**

**"****I'm proud of you for your decision." Horatio released his hold on Ryan. "Good luck on tonight. I hope everything will work out for you."**

**"****I'm sure it will."**

**__****to be continued…**


	6. Putting Doubt To Rest

**A/N: For anyone who isn't Jewish, "bashert" means "soulmate" and "mensch" means "a good person".  
**

**

* * *

CHAPTER 6**

**Ryan was nervous throughout the day. He kept thinking about how he was going to propose to Calleigh. Would she say yes? No? Not give him an answer at all? Would she think it was too soon to get married? Would she say that she doesn't want to get married at all? He fidgeted with his pen as he went through his paperwork. His mind drifted back to a conversation he had last week.**

_**-a few days ago-**_

**Ryan stood in front of the doorway, not sure if he wanted to go inside. But he had already told him that he was coming and it would make no sense to back out now. He hadn't been back in twelve years and hadn't been to temple for about ten. After his parents died, he basically lost his faith and slowly drifted away from it. Now he needed reassurance. He sighed and walked inside.**

"**Can I help you?" Asked the receptionist.**

"**Yes, can you tell Rabbi Cohen that Ryan Wolfe is here to see him?**

"**Do you have an appointment?"**

"**Yes I do."**

"**Ok, thanks." She called the Rabbi. "Rabbi? Ryan Wolfe is here to see you." She placed the phone down. "He'll be right out."**

"**Thanks." Ryan was about to sit down when he heard his name being called. He turned around to see Rabbi Cohen approaching him. **

"**Ryan! It's great to see you again after all these years." The Rabbi said as he hugged him. He stepped back to take a look at Ryan. "I see that you've grown into a handsome man." Rabbi Cohen hadn't seen Ryan since he was a teenager. After his parents' death, Ryan moved down to Miami to live with his grandfather, who was his only living relative. They talked on and off over the phone in the years since then, but this was the first time they stood face to face in over twelve years.**

"**Thanks. It's nice to see you too, Rabbi."**

"**Come with me back to my office." The two walked back to the Rabbi's office. "Please have a seat, Ryan." Rabbi Cohen gestured towards a seat in front of his desk. Ryan sat down.**

"**Thanks for seeing me on such a short notice. I didn't feel like talking over the phone."**

"**Well, something must be bothering you enough to fly all the way up here to talk about it in person."**

"**I just hope that I'm not wasting your time."**

"**Ryan, I haven't seen you in twelve years. I was glad to make time for you. What brings you back to Cincinnati?"**

"**Um, well…I'm conflicted, Rabbi." Ryan shifted nervously in his seat.**

"**About what, I may ask?"**

"**It's about Calleigh." **

"**This is the same girl that you were seeing the last time we talked, right?"**

"**Yes, but we now live together and I want to marry her."**

"**So what are you worried about?"**

"**She's not Jewish."**

"**Oh." Rabbi Cohen leaned back in his seat. "Does she want to convert?"**

"**I don't think so. She's pretty set in her ways."**

"**Are you thinking of converting to her religion?"**

"**No, no, Rabbi…I may no longer worship, but I'm still rooted in some of the traditional values that our religion follows and I have no desire to change. My concern is that I'm betraying in some way those values by not marrying a Jewish woman and having a Jewish household to raise a family. There's also the fact that if we have kids, they might not be Jewish."**

"**Have you talked to her about having children?"**

"**No. We haven't gotten to that point yet."**

"**Well, Ryan-as being a Reform Jew, your children will be recognized by the community as being Jewish, even if they aren't raised as Jews. However, the Orthodox wouldn't traditionally recognize them."**

"**I know. But I love her so much. I can't see myself living life without her."**

"**Would you say that she's your bashert?"**

"**Yes, Rabbi…she is."**

"**Is she a mensch?"**

"**Very much so, Rabbi. She has a pure heart."**

**Rabbi Cohen thought for a minute as Ryan sat there waiting for him to speak. "Ryan, I don't think that you are betraying our way of life by marrying a gentile. I think you are betraying your heart of its true love by not following it through. We try to follow our ways and beliefs as best as we can, but we can't deny what our hearts and souls want. Your parents were good people and would want to see you happy. I know you've been alone for a long time now and I think that it's time for you to fully heal. Go and marry her. Make yourself happy for a change."**

"**That's what I wanted to hear, Rabbi. Thank you." Ryan got out of his chair.**

"**Is Calleigh here with you?"**

"**No. She's at a convention in Las Vegas until tomorrow. She doesn't know that I'm up here. In fact, I'm catching a red-eye back to Miami tonight. If she knew that I came up here on such a short notice, she would wonder why."**

"**Yes, you would want the marriage proposal to be a surprise. Call and let me know how it went." **

"**I will."**

**Rabbi Cohen stood up and walked around his desk to give Ryan another hug. "I'm glad you're doing pretty well with your life. I missed you."**

"**I missed you too." Ryan answered.**

"**Try not to wait another twelve years before visiting again."**

**Ryan chuckled. "I won't."**

**Rabbi Cohen smiled. "It's too bad you don't have time to stay. I'm sure Sheryl would have loved for you to come over to the house and visit. You can see her the next time you come up…with your wife, I hope."**

**Ryan smiled at his comment. "Thank you again, Rabbi. Take care.**

"**Ryan?"**

**Ryan was jolted from his thoughts to see Eric standing there.**

"**Oh, hey Eric…what's up?"**

"**Dude, I've been standing here for about a minute. I must've said your name three times now."**

"**Sorry about that. I guess I was daydreaming."**

**Eric handed Ryan a file. "Here are the results for the tire tracks."**

"**Thanks, Eric."**

**Eric walked back out of the room as Ryan looked at his watch. His shift ended in about 5 minutes. He reached for his keys to unlock the file cabinet that sat behind him to retrieve the ring that was in there. He bought the ring a few weeks back and kept it at work for fear of Calleigh finding it at home. He took the ring box out and placed it in his jacket. He got up and started putting his work away for the day and making sure that everything was back in place for the nightshift. He grabbed his jacket and checked again to make sure the ring was still where he put it. He turned off the lights and walked out.**

**Calleigh had already left for the day about an hour earlier. Ryan called the apartment to see if she was home. There was no answer. He then tried her cellphone and got the same result. "I wonder where she is," he thought to himself. As he drove home, he called Lombardi's to confirm his 9pm appointment. Pulling into the parking lot of his apartment, he looked over to the left and noticed Calleigh's car parked in one of the spaces. He parked next to her and got out. As he walked into the apartment, he noticed that no lights were on, except for a glowing kind of light emitting from their bedroom.**

_**to be continued…**_


	7. The Right Moment

**CHAPTER 7**

"**Calleigh?"**

"**In here." Came her voice from the bedroom.**

**Ryan walked down the hall in near darkness. As he approached the bedroom, he realized that the light he saw was coming from candles lit in the room. He stepped in through the doorway.**

"**Hey, handsome." **

**Ryan looked at Calleigh lying on the bed, wearing nothing but see-through lingerie. He thought he was going to jump out of his skin. He could feel his mind literally overloading from taking in her beauty visually. It was almost too much.**

"**Hey, yourself." Ryan mentally couldn't believe that was his response. Well, at the moment he couldn't really think of anything coherent to say, anyway.**

**Calleigh got off the bed and walked over to Ryan. "If we make love twelve times a week, why don't we get started on number two?" She reached under his shirt and started rubbing his chest with her hands.**

"**Cal, you know that we have a 9 o'clock dinner appointment." Ryan could feel himself getting aroused.**

"**Relax. We have a hour before we have to leave." Calleigh started unbuttoning his shirt.**

"**And we'll have to take a shower afterwards." Ryan tried to protest further, but it was pointless. He was too turned on to say no.**

"**Of course." Calleigh replied as she opened his shirt. She kissed his chest and looked up at him. "We'll do number three in the shower."**

**Ryan could no longer resist. He let go of any self-restraint he had left and gave in completely.**

_**-two hours later-**_

**The couple were on their way to Lombardi's. Ryan couldn't help but feel nervous. Within the hour, he was going to propose. He tried his best not to alert Calleigh to the fact that he felt like he was going to throw up. He gripped the steering wheel tighter. He started to sweat. **

"**Are you ok?" Calleigh asked as she looked him over and noticed his body language.**

"**I'm fine. Why do you ask?"**

"**You look upset."**

"**I'm not upset; just tired. I'm kind of worn out." Ryan was hoping his answer would throw her off.**

"**I was a little rough earlier, wasn't I." Calleigh smiled and placed her hand on Ryan's knee.**

"**You could say that." Ryan reached down with his hand and gripped hers tightly.**

**Calleigh rubbed her stomach. "I can't wait to eat. I worked up an appetite." **

"**It's a good thing I'm hungry too, Cal. Otherwise, I would have no need to go out tonight."**

"**What do you mean?"**

"**Well, I already got the sex. I have no reason to pay for a dinner now to get it." Ryan laughed as Calleigh gasped overdramatically and pulled her hand away from Ryan's in mock anger. She put her hand back. "Asshole," she chuckled.**

"**Hey, it's not my fault you put the cart in front of the horse." Ryan said as he looked at Calleigh. She stuck her tongue out at him. He grinned. The 'spat' was enough to bring his nerves down. He felt more relaxed.**

**They arrived at Lombardi's. They've been going there for so long now, everybody who worked there knew them on a first name basis. At one point, the chef joked about setting up a bedroom in the back since they practically lived in the place. The host greeted Ryan and Calleigh warmly, then led them to a table by the bay window that was prepared for their arrival: two chairs on one side only. Ryan as usual let Calleigh sit in the chair by the window, while he sat in the one by the aisle. They both ordered their usual appetizer and meal and talked about their day at work and average topics while they ate. The talk soon turned personal.**

"**I still can't believe it's been a year." Ryan poured himself another glass of wine. Usually he would order his cherry coke, but he wanted a little wine to steel himself up to pop the question.**

"**It's been a great year, hasn't it?" Calleigh placed her hand on Ryan's and smiled.**

"**It sure has," Ryan answered. "We've been through a lot. But what couple doesn't?" **

"**So true. I've lost count how many times you yell at me that the toilet paper is on the wrong way."**

"**It hangs over the top, Calleigh."**

"**Under."**

"**Over."**

"**Under."**

"**Over."**

"**See? What chance is there for us if we can't even agree on the toilet paper?" Calleigh pretended to be devastated. Ryan laughed. He leaned forward and kissed her.**

"**You're so good to me." Calleigh purred as she returned his kiss. "I'm glad that we ended up with each other."**

"**So am I." Ryan discreetly reached into his jacket and pulled out the ring box. He held it in his hand under the table. He thought how he could ask for her hand in marriage. He felt very nervous. He grabbed his glass of wine and downed it in one shot. It did not go unnoticed to Calleigh.**

"**Is there something wrong?"**

"**No…just a little nervous." Ryan placed his glass down.**

"**Why are you nervous?" Calleigh looked at him, somewhat confused.**

**Ryan swallowed hard. It was now or never. He meant to say something cute and romantic to lead up to the question, but what came out of his mouth was what he was thinking to himself: "I'm just trying to figure out how to ask you to marry me."**

"**Wh-what?" Calleigh was shocked.**

**Ryan quickly realized that he spoke out loud what he was thinking. "Oh, shit." He mumbled to himself.**

"**Did I hear you right?" Calleigh stared at him, eyes open wide.**

**Ryan looked at Calleigh. He had to save the situation. Without a thought, he pushed himself away from the table and stood up. He reached down and grabbed Calleigh's hand. "I'm serious, Calleigh. I love you so much. I don't want to go on another day thinking of you as just my girlfriend. I want you to be so much more than that. I have never been so right, so clear in any of my decisions before. You complete me in so many ways. I would be foolish to think that I could go on in this life without having you by my side. I love you." He kneeled down, still holding her hand as he brought the ring into sight. "Make me the happiest man alive. Please tell me-"**

"**Yes."**

**Ryan wasn't sure if he heard her right. "Did you say yes?"**

"**Yes, yes I did." Calleigh was now crying. "I want you in my life forever."**

**Ryan briefly looked down and away from Calleigh, trying to control all the feelings that he was having. "You think that you can put up with sixty years of me complaining about the toilet paper?"**

**She laughed. "Yes. Only if you can put up with me bitching about how you won't squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom." Calleigh took Ryan's head into her hands, lifting his head up so he was looking right at her. "I want you, heart and soul."**

**Without another word, Ryan reached up for her left hand. He placed the ring on her finger. He then raised himself up to kiss her. Suddenly, he heard people around him applauding. He looked around at the room as he blushed. He was so caught up in the moment, he didn't realize that people were watching him propose. He sat back down into his chair as he wiped the tears that he was now crying himself.**

**Calleigh reached out with her hand and stroked the side of his face. "Why don't we go home."**

**Ryan composed himself. "Do you want to?"**

**Calleigh smiled. "Unless you want number four here in the restaurant."**

**Ryan motioned for their waiter to come over. "Check, please."**

_**to be continued…**_


	8. A Love Revealed

**CHAPTER 8**

**Ryan was awakened by the sensation of someone kissing him on the lips. He kept his eyes closed, convinced that he just woke up from being kissed in a dream. He felt himself drifting back to sleep. It happened again. This time, he was more awake and opened his eyes. Despite it being dark in the room, enough light came in from the outside to see Calleigh leaning over him.**

"**What is it?" He asked, still half-asleep.**

"**Nothing. I just wanted to kiss you." Calleigh laid back down, resting her head on his chest. "I love you."**

"**I love you too." Ryan reached up and started stroking her hair. However, he soon found himself losing the urge to stay awake as his eyelids started to get heavy again. He lowered his hand back down and pulled Calleigh closer to him. He was about to fall back asleep when Calleigh's alarm went off.**

**Calleigh groaned and reached over to hit the snooze. "I really don't want to go into work today." She rolled back over to Ryan. "I want to stay here in bed."**

"**We can't call in, Cal. H. will know that we're up to something. And we're short one person already with Eric off today."**

"**I know. I just wish I had some personal days left myself."**

"**Besides, don't you want to show off your new ring?" Ryan yawned, feeling himself getting sleepy again.**

"**Yes," Calleigh giggled. "I can't wait to do that."**

**Ryan mumbled something and fell back asleep, finally giving up on trying to stay awake.**

**Calleigh looked and him and smiled. She reached up and brushed the hair away from his forehead and quietly got out to bed to let Ryan sleep to his wake-up time. As she walked to the bathroom, she felt a little sore. Not surprising, since they had sex five times yesterday. Calleigh had never been so sexually active before with a man until she was with Ryan. It seemed like she could never get enough of him; he turned her on so much. She enjoyed having sex in her previous relationships, but it never seemed complete. There was always something missing. It might've been the fact that while she loved her previous partners, she wasn't _in_ love with them. For the most part, she would be physically satisfied, yet she didn't feel the same spiritually. With Ryan, it felt to her that they were one soul that happened to exist in two bodies and when they were connected during sex, it was a complete joining of the two halves. It scared her a little because she would have to fully give herself over to him to feel whole and therefore, would not be in total control of her own actions and decisions. As Calleigh walked into the bathroom, she reached down to her left hand to take the ring off before she stepped into the shower. She grinned as she held the ring in her hand. "This feels right," she thought to herself. She was so happy that she was going to be his wife. She placed the ring down in the medicine cabinet and took her shower.**

**Ryan and Calleigh decided to drive in to work together. Ryan wasn't going to mention anything about the engagement. He figured that Calleigh would have more enjoyment in announcing it herself. As Ryan walked down to trace, Calleigh went on into the breakroom to see Valera getting herself some coffee.**

"**Good morning, Maxine."**

**Valera turned around. "Oh, hey Calleigh."**

"**Pulling a double?"**

"**Yeah." Valera answered as she placed the pot back on the burner. "I'm still going to be here for a few more hours." She took a closer look at Calleigh. "Are you ok?"**

"**I'm just fine. Why do you ask?"**

"**I don't know. You look different."**

"**Well, maybe it's because I'm so happy right now." Calleigh raised her left hand at Valera and smiled. "Ryan proposed last night. I accepted."**

"**He did? Wow." Valera paused. "Congratulations."**

**Calleigh looked at Valera and wondered why there was such a sad tone to her voice. "Maxine?"**

**Valera suddenly realized that Calleigh noticed her change in behavior. "Yes?"**

"**Is there something wrong?"**

"**No, I'm sorry. I'm just tired. I'm really happy for the two of you." Valera took a quick glance at Calleigh. "Excuse me, I need to get back to work." Valera quickly left the breakroom. **

"**Well, that was unusual behavior for her." Calleigh thought to herself as she poured a cup of coffee.**

**Valera walked into the bathroom, hoping that nobody noticed her crying on the way in. She wiped the tears from her face and looked at herself in the mirror. She shouldn't feel this way. She should be happy for Calleigh and Ryan. If it wasn't for the fact that she was madly in love with Ryan, she would probably be downstairs right now making some sarcastic remark at him about his engagement. Her feelings for Ryan were never meant to become this strong. At first, she had a little crush on him but didn't think too much into it. But she enjoyed the constant banter between the two of them and he always seemed to go out of the way for her. And the fact that he was very handsome. True, he was a dork…but let's face it-she was a dork, too. Valera weakly smiled to herself as she thought of that analogy. It probably was the same qualities that attracted Calleigh to him, she also thought. Valera would secretly wish from time to time that Calleigh and Ryan's relationship would burnout so she could make her move. She felt bad thinking that way, but she couldn't help it. Now the engagement was proof that they were never going to breakup. **

"**Get a grip on yourself, Maxine." She mumbled to herself as she continued to look in the mirror. She turned on the water and washed her face before grabbing her cup and heading back out.**

**Ryan was busy working in trace when his extension started beeping. He walked over and picked up the phone. "Trace."**

"**Ryan?"**

"**Yes, H.?"**

"**Come up to my office. Right away." Horatio hung up the phone with no further explanation. **

"**Oh, great. What did I do now." Ryan spoke out loud in a sarcastic voice to no one as he placed the phone back down into the receiver. He stepped out into the hallway just as Valera walked on by to head back into the lab.**

"**Hey, Max." Ryan called out. He was the only one to call her that and that was only when it was just the two of them around. Otherwise, he called her Valera. She ignored him and went back into her lab.**

"**Hmm. Either she didn't hear me or she's ignoring me." Ryan thought to himself. He was about to walk into the lab to see if something was wrong, but thought otherwise. When Horatio requests you to come see him, you don't take your time. Ryan made his way up to Horatio's office to see Calleigh sitting on the couch and Horatio sitting behind his desk.**

"**So, what's wrong?" Ryan guessed.**

"**Nothing's wrong." Horatio said as he got out of his chair and approached Ryan. "I just wanted to congratulate you in person over your engagement to Calleigh." He reached out his hand to shake Ryan's.**

"**Oh. Thanks." Ryan took his hand and shook it. Calleigh smiled and got up.**

**Horatio looked at her. "So, have you told anyone else the good news?"**

"**I told Valera when I saw her this morning." Calleigh said as she walked over to the two. For a second, Ryan wondered if the announcement had something to do with Valera's indifference downstairs.**

**Calleigh continued. "I haven't spoken to Alexx yet. I'll give Eric a call later."**

**At that moment, Horatio's phone rang. He walked over to answer it. "Caine. When? Ok. We're on our way." He set the phone down and looked at Ryan and Calleigh. "There's been a shooting at Fourth and Lexington. You two grab your gear and get going. I'll page Alexx." **

**The two of them went back downstairs to retrieve their kits. While Calleigh ran over to ballistics, Ryan went back over to trace. Through the window of the lab, he saw Valera running tests. He quickly stuck his head inside. "Hey…are you ok?"**

"**Why wouldn't I be?" Her voice was cold, void of any emotion.**

"**Well, you seem a little distant."**

"**Ryan, I can't help it if working twelve hours straight makes me a little distant. I'm tired, I'm wired and I want to get this done so I can go home."**

"**Max, I just wanted to make sure-"**

"**Ryan, dammit!" Valera slammed down her clipboard, startling Ryan in the process. Valera quickly composed herself when she realized what she just did. "Ryan, look…I'm sorry. I'm just having a rough night, ok? Please leave so I can finish my shift."**

**Without another word, Ryan left to get his kit, leaving Valera alone. She bit her lip, trying to stop the flow of tears coming to her eyes. She hated the fact that she snapped at him. Valera turned her back away from the window so that when he walked by, he wouldn't see her crying.**

**Ryan walked back and looked at Valera, whose back was now towards him. He wanted to go back inside the lab and ask her what was really bothering her but he had to get back upstairs to leave for the crime scene. He went out to the parking lot where Calleigh was waiting for him.**

"**What took you so long?"**

"**I had to remember where I placed my kit." Ryan lied. He didn't want to mention to Calleigh the reason why he was late was because of the incident he had with Valera. He placed his kit in the hummer.**

"**Are you ready now?" Calleigh climbed into the drivers seat and turned the ignition.**

"**As much as I will be."**

_**to be continued…**_


	9. Two Places At Once

**A/N: Do I really need to remind you why the story has a "M" rating? I guess so. Don't want to scar the kiddies.**

**Roger**

**

* * *

CHAPTER 9 **

**Ryan woke up and looked at the alarm clock. It was 6 a.m. He sat up in bed and looked down at Calleigh, who was peacefully sleeping. She was to wake up in about fifteen minutes. Ryan laid back down, but felt uneasy. It suddenly occurred to him that he felt uneasy because was aroused. He quickly tried to think of something else to distract his mind, but it was to no avail. He again looked over at Calleigh. Ryan reached out and stroked her hair gently, where upon his touch, she slightly stirred before letting out a deep breath and falling back asleep. Ryan again tried to ignore his arousal, but the urge was now too strong for him to turn off. He thought about what to do. Making his decision, he sat back up and gently pulled the sheets down. He moved down and over to position himself between Calleigh's legs. He lowered his face over the front of her underwear and looked up to see if she was still asleep. Confirming that she was, he reached up with his hand and slowly pulled her underwear to one side. He pulled them over far enough so that he could place his lips on her. He kissed her softly before his tongue slowly ran over the folds of her vagina. Ryan then pushed his tongue deeper into her, the sensation finally waking Calleigh up.**

"**Ryan? What are you…oh, god…" She let out a little whimper as she arched her back up, thrusting her pelvis closer to him as he continued to lick. He lifted his head. **

"**Do you want me to stop?" He teased as he placed his hand on her vagina, slowly rubbing it.**

"**Don't stop…please." Calleigh's breath was sharp and ragged as she spoke.**

"**Let's take these off of you." Ryan pulled her underwear off and placed his head back down into her crotch; his tongue flickering faster as he worked his way up to her clit, gently sucking at it as Calleigh let out little shrieks of pleasure. He inserted a finger as he continued to suck on her now swollen clit, causing Calleigh to jerk around from the reaction. He reached out with both hands and held down her hips to keep her still as he continued to pleasure her with his mouth. Calleigh placed her hands on his head and moved him slightly to the left.**

"**Right there…ahhh…" Calleigh's breathing was speeding up. Ryan could feel her thigh muscles starting to become tense. He knew she was near orgasm. He licked her faster, his hands still holding her down as her body started to shake.**

"**Oh…Ryan…" Calleigh let out a small scream as she came, her body shuddering from the reaction. Ryan released his hold on her hips and got up. Calleigh took off her nightshirt as Ryan positioned himself between her legs. Calleigh reached down and grabbed his penis, putting him inside of her. He shoved his tongue into her mouth, which she greedily accepted as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She gently bit his lower lip as their bodies rocked together. Suddenly, her alarm went off.**

"**Not now." Calleigh hissed as she swung out with her arm, knocking the clock onto the floor, effectively stopping the buzzer. She and Ryan let out a little chuckle together.**

"**Now, where were we?" Ryan said as he kissed her neck. Calleigh let out a little moan as he resumed his thrusting. "Faster." She whispered into his ear. Ryan obeyed until he finally climaxed, collapsing from exhaustion onto Calleigh. He looked into her eyes as he lay on top of her. "Good morning."**

"**Interesting wake-up call, don't you think?" Calleigh smiled.**

**Ryan smirked. "I'm sorry, but I was in the mood for some reason and I just couldn't help myself."**

"**Don't be sorry," Calleigh answered. "I thought that was very kinky. I've never been awakened with sex before…oral sex for that matter."**

**Ryan looked over at the time on his clock. "I guess rolling over and going back to sleep now is out of the question." He grinned at Calleigh, obviously not being serious.**

**Calleigh reached up and pinched his nose. "Mister, you and I have to take a shower. We can't go into work like this." **

"**What…you don't want to go in smelling like sex?"**

**Calleigh pushed Ryan off of her. He laughed as he fell onto his back. Calleigh then reached down to the floor to pick up her alarm clock and checked to make sure it wasn't broken. Ryan reached over to turn off his. He climbed out of bed and walked over to Calleigh, lifting her up and carrying her in his arms as he headed towards the bedroom door.**

"**What are you doing?" She looked up at him.**

"**I'm going to be marrying you in three months," he answered. "I might as well practice carrying you across the threshold."**

**Calleigh leaned her head back and laughed happily as Ryan carried her into the bathroom.**

**It was Friday night and again the team was out, enjoying one of their get-togethers. They haven't been out for a while; the current cases and shifting availability had made it too difficult for everybody to be off at the same time. Horatio decided to take everybody to a chinese restaurant for a change of pace. There also was an added bonus of Valera being able to join them for the evening because she had the night off. It was three months since Ryan and Calleigh announced their engagement and by then she had pushed her feelings for Ryan down far enough to where they wouldn't affect her. Still, every once in a while she could feel a tug at the heartstrings if she let her guard down. Everybody was enjoying the food and drink and basically getting to unwind, which was the point.**

"…**and then Cynthia opened the door thinking it was me, when it was her teenage brother, who came over for a surprise visit." Eric took a bite of food.**

"**What was wrong with that?" **

"**Uh, Ryan…she was wearing nothing but a smile."**

**The table erupted into laughter as Eric continued. "She was so mad at me later that night not because of what happened, but because she told me that her brother seeing her naked probably scarred him for life. I then made the comment that the sight of her naked would've traumatized anybody." **

**Alexx, Calleigh and Valera simultaneously let out a low moan, knowing that Eric said the wrong thing to his wife.**

**Eric threw his hands up. "I know, I know! But I was clearly joking."**

"**So, what happened afterwards?"**

"**I uh, got to break in our new couch by sleeping on it the entire night."**

**Everybody laughed as Eric shook his head.**

"**Poor Eric. When will you ever learn?" Calleigh said as she reached for an egg roll. Eric made a face at her. **

**Calleigh couldn't resist. "Is that the same face you make when you taste your foot in your mouth again?"**

**Everybody laughed again, including Eric. "Calleigh, you're such a ham."**

"**I aim to please." She said.**

**Eric looked at Ryan as he pointed at Calleigh. "You want to put up with that for the rest of your life?" Calleigh playfully took a swing at Eric, who ducked to avoid her hand.**

"**I sure do." Ryan said proudly.**

"**I can't believe that in three months, you're going to be married to Maynard G. Krebs over there." Eric said, as he gestured at Ryan.**

"**Well, he's the _sexiest_ Maynard G. Krebs I've ever met. So shut up." Calleigh reached over and grabbed Ryan's hand.**

"**In your face, Delko. IN YOUR FACE!" Ryan couldn't help but rib Eric. Horatio smiled. It was moments like these that he could sit back and enjoy watching his crew be so relaxed with each other.**

"**So, have you two decided on what kind of wedding that you want?" Alexx asked.**

"**Well, we decided on a simple interfaith wedding. We didn't want to invite four hundred people or something like that." Calleigh answered. "We want to keep it intimate, with just a small group of friends and family."**

"**That's nice." Alexx said. "Planning weddings is always exciting to me."**

"**Isn't it?" Calleigh gushed. "I just love the whole excitement of it all."**

**Eric rolled his eyes at Calleigh's chipperness. "Ryan, man…let me tell you something. The minute you say 'I do', the amount of sex you have goes downhill. Enjoy it while you can."**

"**Oh, shut up Eric." Ryan replied.**

"**No, I'm serious. Then the woman you thought you married turns into some kind of dictator. After a while, you'll be happy to go outside and mow the lawn, just so you can get a break from her mouth running non-stop. And then, when you run out of yard work to do, you go and hide in your garage. Why do you think we never saw our dads on the weekends? They were always hiding in the garage!"**

"**Eric, I'm serious. Shut up!" Ryan was laughing so hard from Eric's rant; he was having trouble getting the words out. Calleigh did nothing but glare at Eric. He ignored her and went on.**

"**I'm telling you, if you get a house, get one with a big garage. She won't find you if it's big enough." Eric paused, before looking at Calleigh. He started to laugh. Calleigh and the rest of the crew couldn't help but laugh themselves.**

**Alexx rested her hand on Ryan's arm as she looked at Eric. "Sweetie, don't give away all of the secrets of married life. You'll scare the boy." She turned her head to look at Ryan and winked at him. Ryan grinned. **

**Alexx then looked at Valera. "Honey, you better get married soon, or we'll bore you to death with stories about married life."**

"**Oh, it wouldn't bore me." Valera answered. "Besides, I'm not the only one in the group who wouldn't be married. H. is single."**

"**You're wrong there. I'm married to my work." H. replied in a tone that didn't reveal if he was serious or joking.**

"**We need to do something about that, H." Calleigh said as she reached for her beer.**

"**Maybe someday."**

**Alexx continued. "Maxine, I don't mean to pry, but don't you have anyone special in your life?"**

"**No, not really." Valera answered as she picked at her food. "I'm like H. I guess…I'm married to work myself. I usually spend my off time sleeping or catching up on things I use to do at night. I just haven't found the time to look for someone."**

"**Don't worry, Maxine. The right one will come along when you least expect it." Ryan's comment caused her to flinch slightly. The fact that the man she was in love with was the one who said the words made her feel sullen inside, reminding her that she would never have him. His reply almost felt like a slap in the face. Her body stiffened up, as if she was subconsciously trying not to show any outward emotion, while warding off anything else that might hurt her. Horatio picked up on her body language, but said nothing.**

**The waiter approached Horatio. "Will there be anything else for you sir?"**

"**No, thanks. Just the check, please."**

**The waiter produced the check as Horatio pulled out his wallet. Everybody almost simultaneously thanked Horatio for dinner.**

"**No need to thank me. It's always my pleasure to enjoy a night out with all of you." He gave the waiter his credit card.**

**Valera yawned. "Guys, I think I'm going to call it a night. Thanks again for dinner, H." Horatio nodded as Valera stood up. "It was great to go out with all of you again after being away for so long."**

"**We miss seeing you during the day." Said Alexx.**

"**I miss you all too. I'm just lucky that I got fully reinstated and I have my job back."**

"**I can look into getting you back on days." Mentioned Horatio.**

"**I'm fine where I am right now H., but I'll think about it." Valera was a little grateful to be working nights, anyway. It meant that she wouldn't have to be around Ryan so much. She wanted to concentrate on her job and not be distracted with her personal problems. **

"**Goodnight, all." Valera started to walk away from the table. Everybody said goodnight in return. Over the next few minutes, everybody else got up to leave for the night leaving Horatio as the last one there. He took a look around at all of the empty chairs at the table that just contained his team. He let out a little sigh and smiled as he got up.**

"**My family." He thought to himself.**

**_to be continued_…**


	10. And Then There Were Three

**CHAPTER 10**

**It was now a few days before the wedding and Calleigh felt sick to her stomach. Not just the usual 'nerves talking' sickness which one would usually get as the big day approaches, but one that had a familiarly to Calleigh. At first, she shrugged it off, thinking it was nerves or at least something bad that she ate. It wasn't until the third morning this week that she had to run into the bathroom at work and throw up that she felt it could be something else. She walked over to the sink to wash her face. She started thinking over what it could be before it dawned on her.**

**Calleigh looked at herself in the mirror as she spoke in a near whisper. "I can't be…no. I'm on the pill." **

**She pulled up her shirt, exposing her stomach. She placed her hand on her stomach, gently rubbing it. She didn't feel sore anywhere else, nor did it look like she was gaining weight. She didn't feel like she did the last time.**

"**It has to be something else." She muttered as she left the bathroom. She made a mental note to stop by the pharmacy after work to buy a pregnancy kit just to prove that her suspicions were uncalled for. Calleigh headed over to trace just as Ryan walked out with his kit, almost colliding with her.**

"**Oh!" Calleigh quickly moved out of the way, running into the wall. **

**Ryan dropped his kit. "Are you ok?" He reached out to her.**

"**I'm fine."**

"**Sorry about that. I was in a hurry and I didn't look as I came out."**

"**What are you in a hurry for?"**

"**Eric and I got a call about some potential evidence in the McMurray case. We need to get out to the beach before it gets washed away."**

**Ryan leaned down to quickly kiss her. That's when he noticed that Calleigh's face looked slightly ashen. "Are you sure you're ok? In fact, you've been looking a little pale the last couple of days."**

"**I said I was fine." Calleigh waved her hand at Ryan. "I think my body's not agreeing with the sushi I ate." She quickly kissed him. "Now go. I don't want to hear from Eric that you kept him waiting too long."**

"**Ok." Ryan picked up his kit. "Alexx and Valera still taking you out tonight?"**

"**Yes. Even though I told them I didn't want a bachelorette party, they insisted at least they take me to a strip club for a final 'girls night out' while I was still single."**

"**I would have worked at a strip club, but I would have gotten hurt from all the quarters that women would have thrown at me." Ryan cracked, causing Calleigh to laugh. She shoved him.**

"**Go. Get out of here."**

**Ryan started walking down the hallway. "Don't forget that after work, I'm picking Christine and Heather up at the airport and taking them to dinner." **

"**I know. I got the second room ready."**

"**Thanks, Cal." Ryan disappeared around the corner. Calleigh rubbed her stomach again before letting out a small sigh and started walking back to ballistics.**

**-_that evening_-**

**Calleigh sat in her bathroom at the apartment waiting for the results of her test. Alexx and Valera would be over at any moment to pick her up, so she started pacing, hoping that she would get the answer that would hopefully calm her fears and prove her wrong. She walked back over and looked at the test kit. As she picked it up, there was a knock at the door. **

**Without any hesitation, Calleigh picked up the box the test came in and buried them both in the kitchen trash before answering the door. She didn't want Ryan to by chance find the used kit in the bathroom trash. She opened the door to see Alexx and Valera there.**

"**Are you ready honey?"**

"**Sure, Alexx. Let me just grab my purse."**

"**I hope you're ready to get good and drunk," Valera said with a hint of naughtiness in her voice. "I brought enough ones for you to keep busy with the dancers between shots."**

"**Oh, that's great." Calleigh answered sarcastically.**

"**You're lucky that it's Saturday tomorrow," Valera continued. "Because when I'm done with you, you'll need the weekend to sleep it off."**

**Calleigh let out a little chuckle. "Let's go."**

**The three of them sat down near the stage, cheering on the near-naked men strutting their stuff before them. Valera was standing on her chair, obviously enjoying the action a little more than Calleigh and Alexx were, due to the fact that she already had four shots in her on top of the beer she started off with. Alexx was nursing a beer, given that she was the designated driver for the evening. Calleigh also had a beer in front of her that she barely touched, only taking a small sip because Valera was goading her for not keeping up with her side of the drinking. Valera had started herself and Calleigh off with a shot, and downed her first one while Calleigh left hers alone. Valera kept ordering shots while Calleigh sat there and tried to enjoy the evening. As much as she hooted and hollered at the men, Calleigh couldn't take her mind off of the events at her apartment.**

**Valera sat back down in her chair and looked at Calleigh's shot. "Well, if you're not gonna drink that." She grabbed the shot and tucked it back. **

**Alexx looked at her. "Girl, you better watch it. I don't need to be carrying you out of here."**

"**Whatever, mom." Valera slurred, before sticking her tongue out at Alexx.**

**Alexx laughed and shook her head. "Having fun, Cal?"**

"**I'm having a great time." The tone of her voice convinced Alexx otherwise. **

**Valera was too out of it to care. She stood up and grabbed a pile of one dollar bills. "If you will excuse me, I'm going to use my friend George Washington here to get friendly with a pair of briefs. Cal, come join me." She shuffled her feet over to one of the stages.**

"**I'll be there in a moment." Calleigh yelled out to her.**

**Alexx moved closer to Calleigh. "What's wrong, honey?"**

"**Nothing, really."**

"**There must be something wrong, dear. You look unhappy and you've hardly touched your first drink."**

"**I can't drink."**

"**Why not?"**

"**Because, I…" Calleigh didn't want to finish the sentence. Almost as if she didn't say it, it wouldn't be true. Without thinking about it, she reached down and rubbed her stomach.**

**Alexx's eyes went wide. "Oh, my god! You're pregnant?"**

"**I think so. The test came back positive."**

"**Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Alexx pulled Calleigh into a tight embrace. She let her go and looked at Calleigh, noticing that she still wasn't happy. "Wait…was this planned?"**

"**No, it wasn't." Calleigh signed. "Despite being on the pill, I still got pregnant."**

**Alexx put her arm around her. "Sweetheart, you know that birth control is not one hundred percent effective."**

"**I know."**

"**Does Ryan know about it?"**

"**No, I just found out today. I don't even know how far along I am. I just recently became sick."**

"**You should have told us before we came here. We wouldn't have dragged you out to a strip club."**

"**I didn't want to ruin the evening." Calleigh looked over at Valera who was shoving money down a stripper's underwear. "Besides, I was hoping that it would take my mind off it for a while."**

**Alexx turned and looked at Valera herself before turning back to Calleigh. "Honey, you're not ruining anything." **

**Valera came back over to the table and dropped herself down. "Hey, Cal…I have a few more dollars left if you want to go over there and stuff the turkey." And with that, she let out a slight snort and passed out.**

"**I told the poor thing to pace herself. I'm not carrying her out of here." Alexx motioned for a attendant to come over. "How about we get 'Sleeping Beauty' back home and I'll take you out somewhere quiet so we can have a cup of coffee and talk. Are you up for that?"**

"**I would like that." Calleigh and Alexx along with the attendant stirred Valera enough to get her to her feet. All four walked out to Alexx's car.**

**It was well after midnight by the time Alexx dropped Calleigh off at home. Alexx and Calleigh had talked for a few hours and the talk convinced Calleigh that the sooner she told Ryan, the better. Calleigh walked in to see Christine making herself a snack in the kitchen. "Hi, Chris."**

"**Calleigh!" Christine walked over and hugged Calleigh. "How you doing, girl?"**

"**I'm doing fine. How was your evening?"**

"**It was great. The three of us had a great time. Heather wanted to finally meet you, but she turned in early. She still can't get used to American time."**

"**American time?"**

"**She's from England. Been here about a year now and still can't reset her internal clock."**

"**You and Ryan never told me that she was from England."**

"**Really? Strange…it must've slipped our minds." Christine shrugged her shoulders. **

"**Did Ryan go to bed already, too?"**

"**No. He's in the bedroom checking on the computer to make sure that your family's flight is still going to be on time tomorrow." Christine smiled. "I still can't believe that you're getting married to my Ry-Ry!"**

**Calleigh laughed. Only Christine got away with calling Ryan by that nickname, even to his face. It would amuse Calleigh when his face would turn red from Christine calling him that in front of other people. She thought it was cute.**

**Christine covered her mouth as she yawned. "I need to turn in for the evening myself." She picked up her plate. "Nice seeing you again, Cal. I'll talk to you in the morning."**

"**Goodnight, Chris." Calleigh waited until Christine went to bed before shutting off the lights to the kitchen and living room. Walking in the dark towards her bedroom, she could hear Ryan tapping away at the computer. She opened the door.**

**He looked over her shoulder. "Hey sweetie. Have a fun time tonight?"**

"**Yes I did." Calleigh started to undress as Ryan looked back at the computer.**

"**I'm almost done. I'm just verifying the hotel rooms for your family."**

**Calleigh walked over to Ryan and placed a hand on each shoulder and let out a deep sigh. "Honey, we need to talk."**

**The tone of her voice caused him to stop working on the computer. He spun the chair around and looked at Calleigh, her face showing signs of worry.**

"**Baby, what's wrong?"**

**Ryan got up as Calleigh sat down on the bed. He joined her and took her hands into his. All of a sudden, Calleigh looked like she changed her mind and didn't want to talk. Ryan pressed on.**

"**C'mon…you just can't close up like that. You should know by now that I'm here for you. If something is bothering you, you know that you can talk to me about anything." He paused. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't want to get married?"**

**Calleigh looked at him. "Heavens, no. I want to be your wife. It's just…remember how we talked about starting a family?"**

"**Yes, yes I do." Ryan answered. He studied the look on her face. Suddenly, he thought of something. "Are you trying to tell me that you can't have children?"**

**Calleigh was caught off guard from Ryan's question. She wasn't expecting him to ask her that. She swallowed hard. "No, actually it's the opposite. I, um…I just found out today that I might be pregnant."**

**Ryan let go of her hands and looked down at the bed. The room was unbearably quiet for a few seconds as he absorbed the information before he spoke. "A-are you sure?"**

"**Well, I haven't been feeling well the last few days. You can attest to that. You saw how I looked this morning."**

"**Did you know then?"**

"**No. I thought that I was truly sick. It wasn't until I took a home pregnancy test earlier this evening that it came up positive."**

"**The test could have given a false reading."**

"**That is true. I think I'll have some blood drawn at the lab to confirm it, but these kits are very accurate. I don't think it gave me a false reading."**

**Ryan looked up at Calleigh. "Did you go off the pill?"**

"**No. I think that unfortunately, it happened during the one time it wasn't effective." Calleigh picked up one of Ryan's hands and held it. "What do you want to do? If I am pregnant, do you want me to terminate-"**

"**Don't even think that!" Ryan snapped at Calleigh, which caused her to flinch. He composed himself. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just hard for me to really let it sink in like this. I want to be a father, I really do. There is nothing that would make me happier than to start a family with you…I was just hoping to wait a few years before we made that happen."**

"**I know, honey." Calleigh reached up and stroked the side of Ryan's face. "But things happen. I just want to know if we can be ready for this."**

"**Are you?"**

"**If it turns out that I am expecting, then yes, I think so." She answered.**

**Ryan thought again for a moment and then pulled Calleigh close to him. "I think I am ready. I can only hope that I can be the best father that there is for this child." He laid back onto the bed, pulling Calleigh down with him.**

**Calleigh tugged at his chin. "I always thought that you would make a great father."**

"**I hope so," Ryan answered. "Does anyone else know?"**

"**Just Alexx. I haven't told anyone else."**

"**That's good. The last thing I need is everybody to think that we're having a 'shotgun wedding'."**

**Calleigh laughed. "I don't think I'll be telling my mother yet. She'll get ultra-paranoid and tell me to stay in bed for 9 months. I don't need her freaking out before the wedding."**

"**Like I'm not freaking out myself, Cal." **

"**You seem to be taking the news well." Calleigh reached over to her side of the bed and turned out the light before snuggling back up to Ryan. He was quiet, staring at the ceiling.**

**She lifted her head. "What's wrong?"**

"**I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."**

"**Well you can try to, if you would just turn off your light."**

"**I feel too tense right now." Ryan let out a little sigh.**

"**Is it because of the pregnancy?"**

"**Part of it. I'm just stressed out mostly over making sure all goes well for the wedding and everything goes to plan."**

"**So you just need to let off a little steam to relax? Calleigh asked.**

"**Yeah, I guess I do. I'm not sure what I can do to feel more relaxed. Maybe take a long bath or have a glass of milk."**

**Calleigh chuckled at Ryan's rambling. "I can do something for you to help you relax."**

"**What's that?"**

**Calleigh sat up and took off her shirt. "Why don't you turn off the light and find out."**

_**(click)**_

_**to be continued…**_


	11. Transitions

**A/N: I know Shakey's Pizza doesn't exist in Miami, but I have fond memories of going to Shakey's as a child, so I wanted to use it.  
**

**Roger **

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 11**

**Calleigh walked into headquarters and headed for the labs. Even though she wanted to be with Ryan at the airport to greet her mother and siblings, they both agreed that getting a confirmation on her pregnancy was too important to wait for. Given that it was Saturday morning, there would be only weekend personnel running the place and most of the crew there didn't know Calleigh enough to question why she was here outside of her shift. Luckily, the one person she wanted to see was someone who knew her very well and would be discreet over the situation.**

"**Hey, Janie." Calleigh said as she walked into the lab.**

"**Calleigh! What brings you in on a Saturday?"**

"**Personal business. I was wondering if you can help me out."**

"**Sure. What is it?" Jane walked over to where Calleigh was standing.**

"**I need you to run my blood for a test."**

"**What kind of test, if you don't mind me asking?"**

"**I need to confirm that I'm pregnant."**

**Jane's eyes grew wide. "Oh, Calleigh! Congratulations!" She put her arms around Calleigh and gave her a hug. "Ryan's the lucky guy?"**

**Calleigh rolled her eyes and laughed. "Well of course, Janie. Would there be a problem in running the test?"**

"**Oh, no. I'm between cases right now. Let's get some blood drawn and you should have the results in a few hours."**

**About the same time Calleigh was getting the blood work done, Ryan was waiting at the airport for Calleigh's family. The flight was already an half-hour late and Ryan was getting impatient. It was bad enough that he had to fight traffic all the way into the airport, he arrived at the original gate that the flight was coming in, only to be told that the flight's arrival was moved over to the other side of the airport. As Ryan sat there twiddling his thumbs, he noticed people coming out of the gate. He stood up as he reached into his pocket and pulled out pictures of Calleigh's family so he would recognize who they were. He had spoken to her mother on the phone a few times, but other than pictures, had never seen her in person. As he kept glancing at the pictures and looking up at the people he heard someone speaking at him.**

"**Are you Wolfe?" A voice drawled.**

**Ryan turned to his right to see a tall blonde man standing there, holding a travel bag. About ten feet behind him were two women, one Ryan recognized as Calleigh's mother.**

"**Yes, I am. Are you Jake?"**

"**I sure am." Jake said as he reached his hand out. "Nice to meet you."**

"**Same here." Ryan shook his hand as Calleigh's mother and sister came up.**

"**I was right, mother. This is Ryan." The younger woman said as she came up to Ryan and gave him a hug. "Hi. I'm Calleigh's sister Megan."**

"**Nice to meet you, Megan."**

"**Please, call me Meg."**

"**Will do." Ryan answered as Calleigh's mother stepped up and stared at Ryan for a few moments. Ryan felt uncomfortable having Calleigh's mother looking at him without saying anything.**

"**So, you're the boy who's marrying my daughter."**

"**Yes, yes I am." Ryan stuttered.**

**Suddenly, she reached out and gave him a hug. Ryan let out a deep breath as he hugged her back. "How are you, Mrs.-"**

"**Oh, no need for that. You can call me Rachel."**

"**Ok." Ryan let go of Rachel and looked at all three. "So, how did you recognize me?"**

"**Actually, it wasn't too hard," Meg answered. "Calleigh told us to look for a guy who was tall, dark and handsome, wearing a sweater vest."**

"**Oh." Ryan looked down at what he was wearing.**

"**Don't you ever get hot wearing that thing in this kind of weather?" Jake asked.**

"**No, actually it's quite comfortable."**

**Jake picked up his bag. "Let's get down to baggage claim. I'm ready to get out of here and kick back a few beers with you, get to know you better. After all, you'll be family in a couple of days."**

"**We're going out?" **

"**You have no choice in that, bro. Calleigh told me when I got here I should go out with you and have a good time. She says that you know all the hot spots in town."**

"**I do?" Ryan replied in a tone indicating that he had no idea what Calleigh was talking about.**

"**Wait…she was joking?"**

"**I think so, Jake."**

"**Well, we'll both go out and find them. How's that sound?" Jake reached up and slapped Ryan's back as the four of them walked towards baggage claim.**

"**Calleigh said on the phone this morning that she had to go into work. Do you know when she'll be home?" Meg asked.**

"**She should be home sometime this afternoon."**

"**She hasn't seen her family in a couple of years because she's too busy and today is no exception either," Rachel said out loud to no one in particular.**

"**Mother!"**

"**Sorry, Megan. But it's true. You think she would come out here to greet her own family."**

**Ryan interjected. "She wanted to come out, but a important matter came up and she had to go in for a few hours."**

"**Ryan, what did she have to go in for that was more important than seeing her mother and her siblings?"**

"**I honestly don't know, Rachel." Ryan answered, obviously lying to her. There was no way that she was going to get the real reason out of him. "Our boss apparently needed her for a case."**

"**Hey, Ryan…you know of a place around here that we can eat lunch?" Jake asked, trying to change the subject. "You have to at least know where the best eats are." He playfully punched Ryan in the shoulder.**

**Ryan slightly winced at Jake's punch. Not out of pain, but more of an annoyance. "Well, let's get your luggage first."**

"**Well _duh_, Ryan."**

**Ryan continued. "By the time I get you to the hotel and checked in, it will be lunchtime. I happen to know a great restaurant a few miles from the hotel that I'm sure you'll all enjoy. Do you guys like Italian?"**

"**Yes." Was the collective answer from all three.**

"**Great. I need my 'Tomato & Basil' soup fix for the day."**

**The four of them walked under the sign that read 'Baggage Claim'.**

**-_meanwhile, back at the ranch_-**

**Calleigh waited nervously for her results. Jane told her it would be a little while still before they were ready. Calleigh already felt that she was indeed pregnant, but a second opinion would put her at ease. She briefly thought about heading down to ballistics to take her mind off of it, but then realized that it would weigh too heavily on her mind to try and concentrate on anything else. She paced around in the hallway, collecting her thoughts when she heard a voice call out to her.**

"**Cal?"**

**She turned around to see Eric standing there. "Hey, Eric."**

"**What are you doing here? You're supposed to be gone for the next two weeks."**

**Calleigh thought quickly. "I, uh…wanted to make sure everything was in place for Turner when he covers for me. What brings you out here?"**

"**I just got back from a dive. Bowman called me early this morning, asked if I could come in and help for a few hours. I was on my way out."**

"**Yeah…I'm almost done here myself." Calleigh answered.**

"**You want to grab a bite to eat since we're both leaving?"**

**Calleigh looked back at the door to the lab. "Hold on a minute, Eric. Let me check something first." She walked back into the lab. "Janie, how much longer?"**

"**Actually, the results are printing out right now." Jane pulled the paper out of the tray and looked at it.**

"**Well?" Calleigh studied Jane's face, looking for a reaction.**

**Jane handed the paper to Calleigh. "Look for yourself."**

**Calleigh nervously took the paper. Her eyes went straight to the answer at the bottom. The results read positive: she was pregnant.**

"**Oh." Calleigh put her hand to her mouth.**

"**Are you going to be ok?" Jane walked over and put her arm around Calleigh's shoulders. She looked over to see Eric standing outside, not aware of what was going on inside the lab.**

**Calleigh composed herself. "I'll be fine. Thank you for doing this for me. I owe you one."**

"**No problem. Enjoy your wedding on Monday. Sorry I'm not able to make it."**

"**That's ok," Calleigh replied as she folded up the paper and placed it in her pocket. "See you later. Thanks again." Calleigh walked out into the hallway, where Eric was still waiting.**

"**Are you free for lunch?" Eric knew better than to ask Calleigh about what just happened in the lab.**

"**Yes. Let's go. Tell me where we're going and I'll follow you in my car."**

**The two of them went to Shakey's Pizza to eat and Calleigh was surprised on how much pizza Eric was putting away. If anything, _she_ was the one who should eating that much, since she was now eating for two. While she helped herself to a couple of slices and a salad, Eric's plate was piling up with leftover crust that could have been enough to make a whole new pizza.**

"**Eric, my god…how could you be eating so much and keeping your figure intact?"**

"**Murrph mummum muphplpmum."**

"**What?"**

**Eric stopped and took a big drink of water. "Sorry, about that. I shouldn't talk with food in my mouth. I said that I'm hungry because I didn't eat breakfast and I worked up an appetite with the dives I did this morning."**

"**Yes, but isn't eating all of that bad for your regimen?"**

"**Yeah, but I'll jog tonight. One Saturday a month I help myself to junk food so my system can reset itself. It's good to 'pig out' every once in a while. Then it's back to salads and health shakes for the next 30 days."**

"**Well, good god, Eric…pace yourself."**

**Eric laughed. "Try it once. It won't kill you."**

"**Drink health shakes for a month? Yuck. No thanks."**

"**Feeling nervous about Monday?" Eric reached for another slice of pizza.**

"**A little bit. Weren't you nervous?"**

"**I was scared shitless. I'm used to danger on the job; hell, danger in relationships for that matter. But this was something that I've never experienced before and that scared me the most. I'm still wondering if it's all going to work out."**

"**You and Cynthia have done a good job so far."**

"**I'm grateful for that at least. Still, I wouldn't use our marriage as a yardstick. We've haven't even been married a year yet."**

"**But it's going fine, isn't it?" Calleigh took a bite of salad.**

"**Of course. You're not having second thoughts are you?"**

"**Oh, no. Ryan's the one for me. Most definitely."**

"**I still find it hard to believe that he's 'the one'."**

"**And why is that?"**

"**Well, Cal. From my point of view, you could have any guy you wanted. Yet you pick _him_. It's almost like the head cheerleader in high school who rejects the football team to date the nerd. It's too cliché."**

"**You automatically think that I could have any guy I want?"**

"**You've looked in the mirror lately, haven't you?"**

"**Don't be so vain, Eric. That's the problem right there: Most guys just want to be with the prettiest woman around because they want to sleep with her. You're not a woman. You don't know how sickening it is to be looked at and treated like an object. I'm not saying that I was defending myself with a pitchfork to keep the guys at bay, but you put walls around yourself to keep the men away and from hurting you. It takes that one special person to see beyond the beauty and look at the soul within. Someone who actually loves you for you and not because of how you look."**

**Eric looked at her. "Jesus, Cal. That's a little heavy. But I see what you mean."**

"**I hope you do. I'm just tired of defending my relationship with Ryan to everybody."**

"**Well, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little jealous. It's probably why I make fun of Ryan so much."**

**Calleigh leaned forward at Eric. "Jealous? At Ryan, or what we have?"**

"**A little of both, I guess. I mean, there were times when we first met I thought about asking you out. But I never went into that direction enough to actually go and do it. Our relationship eventually became too platonic to really change it into anything else."**

"**You're lucky to have Cynthia."**

"**I really am. I love her very much." He paused. "You're lucky to have Ryan."**

"**Thank you." Calleigh looked down at her watch. "Eric, it's time for me to leave. Knowing my mother, she probably thinks that I skipped out on the family so I wouldn't have to deal with her. She's probably pestering Ryan to death right now."**

"**That's ok, Cal. I'm about done here. I'm going to go home myself and crash for a few hours before I go and jog. Thanks for coming out with me to lunch."**

"**No problem, it was nice."**

"**Yeah. Probably because I paid for it." Eric rolled his eyes, obviously not being serious.**

**Calleigh took a look around. "You're such a big spender, Eric." She laughed.**

"**Whatever." Eric pretended that he was hurt by her comment. However, he couldn't keep it together and let out a snicker. "Go. Get on home to 'Bill Nye, The Science Guy'."**

"**See you on Monday." Calleigh kissed Eric on the cheek and left.**

**Eric looked over at Calleigh's plate and noticed a uneaten slice of pizza sitting there. "Well, since you're not going anywhere," he said as he picked it up and proceeded to take a bite.**

_**to be continued…**_


	12. I Do

**A/N: I apologize for the long, long delay between chapters. I've been busy composing music the last few months and this story got pushed to the side. I promise that the next chapter won't take as long to be posted. **

**Roger **

**

* * *

CHAPTER 12**

**Calleigh was a few miles from her apartment when her cellphone rang. Keeping her eyes on the road, she reached down and picked it up. Glancing at the caller i.d., it read 'home'. She hit the receive button.**

"**Hello?"**

"**Hey, sis."**

"**Jake! How are you? I see you made it there all right."**

"**Yeah, I'm fine. We're all fine. Ryan took us to this great Italian restaurant for lunch. I've never seen anybody attack a bowl of soup the way he did before today."**

**Calleigh chuckled at the image. "Are all of you at the apartment right now?"**

"**Yeah. Mom and Megan are in the living room talking to some friends of Ryan. Christine and… I already forgot the other woman's name."**

"**Oh, that's Christine's girlfriend Heather."**

"**Girlfriend?"**

**Calleigh bristled at the sound of her brother's voice. "Do you have a problem with them being gay?"**

"**Oh, no. Its just Christine told us that Heather was her sister."**

"**She probably said that so mom wouldn't get upset. You know how religious and old-fashioned she is." Calleigh moved the phone to the other ear. "Where's Ryan?"**

"**He's in the bedroom changing. We're going out in a few minutes."**

**Calleigh's heart sunk. She wanted to tell Ryan right away about the baby when she got home. "You're going out?"**

"**Well, just the two of us," Jake answered. "You told me that Ryan knew all the hotspots in town."**

"**I was joking, Jake."**

"**I know. He told me he didn't. So we're going to go out and find them. Besides, I want to get him all nice and drunk so he'll put up with you at the wedding."**

"**Ha Ha." Calleigh answered in mock laughter. "Don't get him too drunk. I need him later."**

"**Oh, yuck." Jake replied. "I don't want to know."**

"**Not for that, silly. I need to speak to him."**

"**Oh god, Calleigh. He's probably sick of hearing you talk about the wedding."**

"**It's not that. Just leave him coherent, ok?"**

"**Whatever, sis." Jake stuck his head around the corner. "Look, I gotta go. Ryan's out of the bedroom. I'll see you tonight."**

"**Give Ryan a big kiss on the lips for me," laughed Calleigh.**

"**You're sick." Jake muttered as he hung up the phone. **

**Calleigh placed her phone down. It would still be another 20 minutes before she would reach home. As she got there, she noticed Christine and Heather driving out of the parking lot in their rental car. The three waved to each other as their vehicles passed by. Calleigh parked and went inside. **

"**Anybody home?" She asked as she opened the door.**

"**Calleigh!"**

"**Megan!" Calleigh gave her sister a hug. "How are you?"**

"**I'm fine. Mom's in the bathroom."**

**Just then, their mother walked out. Calleigh walked over to her. "Mother."**

"**Calleigh." The two put their arms around each other.**

"**Your flight went ok?"**

"**It would have been better if you were there to greet us."**

"**Mom, I'm sorry. I already told you that I was called into work today." Calleigh gestured at the couch. The three of them sat down. **

**Rachel wasted no time in getting on Calleigh's nerves. "So, are you sure that Ryan is the right man for you?"**

"**Oh god, mom. Don't start this again."**

"**I only want what's good for you," Rachel continued. "Ryan seems to be a nice guy, but he doesn't seem to be 'husband material'."**

"**Oh, and what would be husband material, mother? Drunk lawyers?"**

"**Watch your mouth."**

"**This is coming from a woman who did a splendid job with her own marriage." Calleigh crossed her arms. "This is who I want for a husband. I don't need your approval. I'm old enough to make my own decisions."**

"**Calleigh…mom…please." Megan interrupted. "Mom, you promised that we would get along."**

**Rachel paused for a moment. "You're right, Meg." She then looked at Calleigh. "I'm sorry."**

**Thank god Megan was around. If she wasn't, her mother would have bickered on for hours. Calleigh sighed and changed the subject. "Did you two enjoy lunch?"**

"**Yes, we did." Answered Megan. "It was very good food. I might have to move out here so I can go back whenever I want."**

**Calleigh laughed. "It's mine and Ryan's favorite restaurant to go to. We go there quite often."**

"**That was where he proposed to you, right?"**

"**That's the place." Calleigh said, her eyes lighting up at the memory. She looked at her sister and mother. "Did Jake say when they would be back?"**

"**I think he said they would be back around ten or so." Rachel answered. **

"**You two want to go out and do something ourselves? We'll be too busy tomorrow to go out and do anything."**

"**Are there any good 'chick flicks' playing? Rachel asked. **

**Calleigh laughed at her mother's question. "I'm sure there is. Let me grab the paper. You for a movie, Megan? **

**Megan looked at Calleigh. "A movie would be nice. Reminds me of the days the three of us would go to the theatre back home when we were kids."**

**Calleigh smiled at the memory brought up by Megan's comment. In younger times, Rachel would take her two daughters to the local theatre almost every Saturday to get them out of the house and the violent atmosphere they were subject to quite a bit. Jake never joined them; preferring to play football with his friends. Their dad coming along was never an option. **

**Calleigh looked through the paper. "Well, I see about three choices, all starting about the same time." She handed the paper over to her sister and mother. "You two see one you like?"**

"**How about this one?" Megan pointed to one feature.**

"**No. Ebert gave that one a thumbs-down." Rachel looked at the other two choices. "This one looks good."**

"**Susan and I saw that one last weekend." Megan replied.**

"**Well, I guess we're left with what's behind door number three." Calleigh said as she stood up and pointed to the last movie. "You two agree with that one?"**

**Both Megan and Rachel nodded.**

"**Good. Let me get out of these clothes and into something more comfortable." Calleigh walked into the bedroom. A few minutes later, she came out and they all left.**

**-_later that evening_-**

**Ryan returned back to his apartment alone after dropping Jake back off at the hotel. It was now 10:30. He walked in to see Calleigh, Christine and Heather sitting in the living room talking. Calleigh got up and approached Ryan.**

"**Hello, stranger." Calleigh said as she gave him a deep kiss. "Did you and Jake have a good time together?"**

"**Well, Jake did." Ryan replied as he took off his jacket. "I had to drop him off back at the hotel. I don't think he would've made it back here to begin with. I noticed that the rest of your family were already there."**

"**We went to a movie earlier. I dropped them off about an hour ago."**

"**That was nice of you. It saved me a trip of taking your family back to the hotel."**

**Christine and Heather stood up. "We're off to bed now. See you in the morning."**

"**You're going to bed?" Asked Ryan.**

"**You two have a lot to talk about." Christine said with a smile. "Good night."**

**Ryan turned and looked at Calleigh as Christine shut the bedroom door behind her. "Does she know something that I don't know?"**

"**No," Calleigh answered. "You already knew before she did."**

**Ryan suddenly reached out and took Calleigh into his arms. "Are we?"**

"**Yes, we are." Calleigh said with a grin on her face.**

"**Oh, Calleigh….god I love you so much." And with that, Ryan leaned down and kissed her deeply.**

**Calleigh moved her head back. "I see that you're accepting this quite easily."**

"**It's been on my mind all day, wanting to know the answer." Ryan continued to hold Calleigh in his arms. "At the few bars Jake and I went to, it was all I could think about while Jake kept knocking back drinks. As I sat there, I couldn't think but feel happy that my life was going to become so much better with this baby. I was hoping that we did create something and it wasn't a false alarm."**

"**So, you're quite happy with leaving me full of raging hormones for the next nine months and ready to tear your head off at the slightest disagreement."**

"**Wait…you're only like that when you're pregnant?" Ryan cracked sarcastically before getting a playful punch on the nose from Calleigh in response.**

**Ryan rubbed his nose. "Ow…that stung a little." **

**Calleigh grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him down to have his lips reach hers. "It was supposed to," she answered, before kissing him and leading the both of them to their bedroom.**

**It was now Monday morning and the wedding was minutes away. The day before had gone by so fast, with Ryan and Calleigh both spending Sunday getting ready the final preparations for the wedding and going their separate ways that evening before to each spend 'one final night' as a single person. Calleigh went out to dinner with her family, while Ryan and Christine went to a movie together; Ryan eschewing the traditional bachelor party to spend the evening with his best friend. Given the wedding was an interfaith wedding, they found a non-traditionalist church to have the event. A few people found it weird and a little uncomfortable that Ryan had Christine as a best man, but didn't say anything directly to Ryan. Christine stood there, next to Eric. Standing on Calleigh's side was Alexx, Meg and Valera, who was trying her hardest not to look sad. Ryan fidgeted with his collar; his nerves finally coming to the surface. Christine reached over and gently brushed the back of his hair with her fingers, making Ryan smile a little. The organist started his piece that announced the entrance of the bride. Everybody turned to look at the entryway as Calleigh walked through with Horatio as he walked her down the aisle. Ryan let out a little gasp. He never saw the dress she picked for the wedding before now and she looked absolutely beautiful in it. He couldn't believe that she was going to be his wife. He could feel tears stinging his eyes. Within seconds, Calleigh was by his side at the altar.**

"**Thank you, Horatio." Calleigh whispered as she hugged Horatio.**

"**I love you." Horatio whispered back as he embraced her. Letting her go, he looked at Ryan and smiled, gently placing his hand on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan nodded at H before he moved over and stood next to Eric. Ryan turned and looked at his bride before the two faced the reverend standing before them.**

"**We are here today to join two people who have decided to share their lives together under the love of God. Ryan and Calleigh may come from two different religions and backgrounds but have decided to join the two as one. There is nothing more beautiful than two cultures coming together and starting their own in the house of love. Before we continue, is there anyone who objects to this union?"**

**Valera could feel a pair of eyes looking at her as she shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Looking up, she could see Horatio staring right at her. Did he know? She quickly looked down to avoid any further contact. The silence in the room convinced the reverend to continue with the ceremony.**

"**I understand that the couple have written their own vows. Calleigh?" The reverend looked at Calleigh. She turned and faced Ryan.**

"**Ryan…When I first met you, I only saw you as a replacement for a special friend and nothing more. In the time that I've known you, I grew to like you more than a replacement and then more than a friend. I didn't think that you would be the one that would complete my life and my soul."**

**Suddenly, Calleigh stopped and gestured at the congregation, waving her hands wildly. "In fact, I don't think anybody in this room who knows me ever thought that you would be the one!" **

**Her remark brought a low laugh from people around the room. She composed herself and focused her attention back to Ryan. "But I'm glad it's you because I can't see anyone else in your place. You make me so happy and I thank God that He has led you to me. I look forward to spending our lives together and starting a family and knowing that you'll be there every time I need you. I love you."**

**Ryan looked at Calleigh; tears running down her face. He cleared his throat as he took her hand into his.**

"**Calleigh…I never thought that I could love someone as much as I love you. To have you in my life, to have you standing by my side…I still think to this day that it's all a dream. I want nothing more in this life than to make you happy. I already know that you've made me happy a thousand times over. I-"**

**Ryan started to stumble over his words; his emotions finally overtaking him. Tears ran down his face as he broke eye contact from Calleigh and looked down at the floor. He drew a sharp breath as he tried to compose himself. He suddenly felt Calleigh's hand underneath his chin, lifting his head back up to where he was looking at her again. Their eyes once again made contact as she gave him a huge smile. Ryan softly grinned back at her as he straightened himself to finish his vow.**

"**I never thought that I would ever be this happy in my life. I know that if my parents were still around, they would welcome you with open arms. I know that wherever they are now, they are happy that you are in my life. I love you, Calleigh."**

**And with that, Ryan turned and again faced the reverend as Calleigh did the same, still holding hands.**

**The reverend spoke. "Calleigh, do you take Ryan as your lawfully wedded husband?"**

"**I do." She answered.**

"**Ryan, do you take Calleigh as your lawfully wedded wife?"**

"**I do." He answered.**

**The reverend then raised his hands, holding one over Ryan and Calleigh. "By the powers invested in me and the state of Florida, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."**

**Ryan and Calleigh turned again to face each other. He leaned down to kiss her. As she raised her head up to kiss him, Ryan placed his arms around her waist and gently lifted her up off the ground as everyone surrounding them burst into applause. As he held her up, she wrapped her arms around his head, deepening their kiss. Ryan placed her back down and the two of them turned towards the congregation.**

"**Ladies and Gentlemen…I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe." The reverend shouted behind them as Ryan and Calleigh walked down from the altar into the aisle to another round of applause.**

**The organist played his final piece of music as everyone followed the couple out of the church to the reception.**

_**to be continued…**_


	13. Home Is Where The Heart Is

**A/N: I apologize for this chapter being really long, but I was on a roll and I didn't want to break it up into two chapters. Please enjoy.**

**Roger

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 13**

**Ryan sat at his kitchen table holding his head with one hand, while his other hand held a cup of coffee. It wasn't just any cup of coffee; it was a cup of coffee that would hopefully wake him up and relieve him from the painful throbbing that resided inside of his head. He didn't mean to drink so much the night before, but he went out to dinner with Eric. During their meal, Eric made a comment at Ryan in response to a story that Ryan was telling him about how uptight he was at times and then asked Ryan if he was a member of the Boy Scouts. To prove Eric wrong at his comments, Ryan challenged him to a drinking contest on the spot. Thankfully he didn't make an ass of himself by the time the contest was over, but Eric and himself clearly weren't able to drive afterwards. The bartender ended up calling both of their wives to pick them up.**

"**Good mornin', Sunshine." Calleigh said in a chipper tone as she walked into the kitchen. **

**Ryan didn't look up. He just moaned.**

**She reached for her cup from the cabinet. "Having fun without me?"**

**At this point, Ryan finally looked up and just glared at her with his bloodshot eyes.**

**Calleigh let out a little chuckle as she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to her husband. She reached over and grabbed his free hand that was now no longer supporting his head.**

"**Why did I have to drink so much?" Ryan said, not really asking Calleigh but just saying the question out loud.**

"**What, you don't remember?"**

"**Of course I remember, Cal. I just didn't think that I would go overboard with it."**

"**Well, when Eric told me at the restaurant when I picked you up why the both of you were drunk, I figured that he made a comment about you that set it off. Did he make fun of the fact that you iron your blue jeans?"**

"**No. By the way, there is nothing wrong with having pressed blue jeans."**

**Calleigh smirked at Ryan. "Ryan, honey…you let it get to you. It didn't help that you challenged Eric to a drinking contest."**

"**Ok, first of all…I felt that I had to defend myself to Eric."**

"**Defend yourself to what?"**

"**That I'm not a 'prude'."**

**Calleigh laughed at Ryan's answer. Ryan sighed and shrugged his shoulders at her reaction.**

"**Ryan, you should've known better anyway not to challenge Eric to a drinking contest, no matter what the reason is."**

**Ryan looked at her. "I didn't embarrass you or anyone else in the restaurant, did I?"**

"**Heavens, no…in fact, I was surprised over how much the booze made you so…" Calleigh fumbled with the right word to say.**

"**Unprudish?" Ryan answered.**

**Calleigh laughed again. "Yes. After the bartender and I got you into the car and we drove off, you turned on the radio and started singing along to the music."**

"**Wait…how is that unprudish, Cal?"**

"**We were listening to rap music. I couldn't believe that you even knew the words to the songs."**

"**Must've picked them up somewhere." Ryan mumbled as he looked down into his cup of coffee.**

**Five months had gone by since the wedding and with Calleigh obviously showing her pregnancy, the two of them decided that it was time to move out of their apartment and into a home that would support a family. Since they enjoyed the neighborhood that they lived in, Ryan started spending his off time looking at affordable houses in the area. A new home guide sat at the other side of him. He wearily reached out and picked it up.**

"**I think I found us a house," he said as he slowly leafed through the pages. "It's about 6 miles from us and there's an open house for it today."**

"**Let me see." Calleigh pulled the guide closer to her and took a look. "Didn't we pass by this house once before?"**

"**It wasn't on sale last month," Ryan answered as he rubbed his face again. "This is the new guide that arrived last week."**

**Calleigh glanced down at the price and made a face. "I think it's out of our price range." She pushed the guide back over to Ryan.**

**Ryan took another look at the ad. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to take a tour of it."**

**Calleigh took a sip of her coffee. "Are you up to looking at houses today, anyway?"**

"**I'll be fine, as long as you do the driving."**

"**We don't need to see any houses today, Ryan. We could wait until next weekend."**

"**I want to. I would like to see this house." Ryan reached out to the bottle of aspirin in front of him and opened it. **

**Calleigh sighed. Why was he so adamant at looking at houses? If she were him, she would relax and try to sober up in the comforts of home. "Let me know when you want to leave."**

"**I should be ready in a few moments. Let me just try to clear my head." Ryan dropped three aspirin into his mouth and took a big sip of coffee.**

**The two of them headed over to the house and met with the agent who was there. As they took the tour, Ryan would occasionally look over at Calleigh to see her reaction to the place. They've looked at enough houses over the last month or so that Ryan could tell if she liked the place or not just by studying the look on her face. So far, she looked impressed at what she had seen. The house was a three bedroom/two bath with a medium sized backyard. The two of them asked the agent the usual questions about the place and about the previous owners. By her tone, Ryan could tell that Calleigh really liked the house.**

"**What do you think?" The agent asked them as they stepped into the two car garage.**

"**It's really nice…I like it a lot." Ryan answered. "Cal?"**

"**I like it myself. Is there any chance on the price going down?"**

"**Sorry," replied the agent. "The owners are insisting that they sell it at the price that is listed. It's already being offered at a price on the market that's below current value."**

**Calleigh thought for a moment. "As much as I like this house, I'm afraid that it's too much for us to own." She looked over at Ryan, who slowly nodded his head.**

"**I understand." The agent reached into his pocket and pulled out his card. "Say, if you change your mind or need to ask any additional questions, please feel free to give me a call."**

"**Will do." Ryan said as he took the card. "Thanks for your time."**

**As the two of them walked back to their car, Ryan stopped and turned around to walk back towards the house.**

"**Where are you going?" Calleigh asked.**

"**I forgot to ask the agent something." Ryan answered. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes. Go ahead and start the car."**

**Calleigh got into the car and waited. After about fifteen minutes, Ryan still hadn't come back out. She was about to turn the car off and come after him, but then he suddenly came out and got into the car.**

"**What were you doing in there?"**

"**Oh, I was asking the agent if he knew about any other listings in the neighborhood that I wasn't aware of."**

**Calleigh looked down at Ryan's hand. He was holding a set of papers. "Are those other houses to look at?"**

**Ryan quickly placed the papers in the back seat. "Uh, yes they are. I don't care to go look at anything else today. I guess the liquor is still affecting me. I think it would be nice to go home and rest for a while."**

**As they drove home, Calleigh couldn't help but wonder if they were making a mistake in turning down the chance to buy the house. It was the first house they looked at that Calleigh actually felt that she could turn into a home for her family. If only if it didn't cost so much.**

"**Ryan?" Calleigh looked over at Ryan, who was looking out his window.**

"**Yeah?"**

"**Did you like the house?"**

"**Of course, I did. I assume that you liked it yourself."**

"**I did very much. Except for the fact that it's about $60, 000 more than we can actually afford." Calleigh let out a small sigh. "I guess we could keep looking."**

"**Guess so." Ryan answered as he still continued to look out the window.**

**They returned back to their apartment, where Ryan went into their bedroom and promptly took a nap. As he slept, Calleigh looked over the home guide. As she rubbed her belly, she looked at the houses and for some reason, just didn't like any of the ones that were there. She then thought of the paperwork that Ryan got from the agent. She tried to remember where he had put them when they got home, but gave up after realizing that she didn't recall seeing him put the papers anywhere. She contented herself with watching TV until Ryan woke up. However, she found herself getting drowsy in front of the TV and decided to take a nap herself. **

**Calleigh woke up and noticed that it was getting dark outside. "What time is it?" She thought to herself as she looked over at the clock on the wall. It read 5:15. **

"**I can't believe that I slept for three hours," she muttered to herself as she turned off the TV. The pregnancy was obviously affecting Calleigh in ways she never experienced before. Her sleeping and eating patterns were all off and at times, she wondered to herself what her first pregnancy would have been like if she didn't lose the baby. That time around she would have been all by herself, refusing to have John, of all people helping her with their child. She seriously doubted had both the baby and John lived, she would have even told him that he was the father. She would have rather deprive the child of its natural father than letting it be raised by such a terrible man. But when she lost the baby, she figured that someday John would have to know that he was the father. It made Calleigh sad thinking about the 'what ifs' in her life and quickly made herself stop thinking about it.**

**Calleigh heard Ryan talking in the bedroom. She suddenly realized that he was on the phone. She got up from the sofa and plodded her way towards the bedroom. Opening it, she saw him sitting cross-legged on the bed, with various papers strewn out around him.**

"**-yes, yes I'll fax a signature on Monday to confirm the transaction, but I'll be in Tuesday afternoon to finalize the paperwork. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Enjoy the rest of the weekend." Ryan hung up the phone and looked at his wife. **

"**What are you doing?" Calleigh asked as she sat down on the bed.**

"**Oh, I'm just making some phone calls. I woke up about an hour ago and came out to the living room and saw that you were asleep." Ryan started gathering up the paperwork around him.**

"**Anything that I should be aware of?" Calleigh looked at him with a quizzed look.**

"**Not really, no." Ryan started placing the paperwork back into a folder that looked old and worn out. "I was talking to my financial advisor."**

"**Mr. Peters?"**

"**No, Mr. Peters is our advisor. Mr. Johnson is my financial advisor that I had when I moved down here to live with my grandfather. He handled my grandfather's affairs and eventually mine when grandpa passed on. I was checking up on some things." He set the folder down next to him.**

**Calleigh was about to ask Ryan exactly what things he was checking up on when Ryan's pager went off. Ryan let out a groan as he looked at the number. "I've got to call into work." He dialed the number.**

"**This is Ryan Wolfe calling in. Yes. You did? Ok. For how long? Ok. I'll be right down." He closed his phone. "I'm sorry, Cal. They need me to help out in trace for a few hours." Ryan leaned over and kissed her before getting up.**

"**Are you going to be back in time for dinner?" Calleigh asked as Ryan grabbed the folder from the bed.**

"**I should be. They said that they just need an extra pair of eyes and hands. I was told it wouldn't be too long." Ryan walked over to the desk and placed the folder down. "I'll call you if I'm held up." He walked back over and gave Calleigh another kiss. "See you in a few." He walked out of the bedroom.**

**Calleigh waited until she heard him leave before getting up from the bed. She walked over to the desk and picked up the folder. She felt a little guilty about looking at Ryan's private things, but her curiosity got the best of her. The papers inside were financial records of what looked like belonged to Ryan's parents and his grandfather. She noticed that all the records in the file were incomplete, only showing page one or page two of some transaction. Either Ryan didn't have all of the paperwork, or he just pulled out what he needed to use. Nothing in the paperwork told her what amount of money Ryan's family had or what he inherited. She never asked about his life before he came to work at CSI. He never talked about life with his grandfather and he spoke about his parents even less. What things he revealed about himself growing up were always in the first person and never about his family. He did confess one night about what happened to his parents and when he started crying uncontrollably about the incident, she felt best not to bring it back up again. God only knows how many years of therapy he went through. And she only knew about that because Ryan told her he had to reveal his background to be admitted into the police academy.**

**Although she felt that if Ryan didn't want her to see the papers, he would have told her or locked them away, Calleigh suddenly felt guilty about looking through her husband's past. She quickly placed the papers back together and set the folder back on the desk. She thought again about the house that they looked at and wondered if they made a mistake about not taking it. Houses in Miami were not cheap and even though they had two incomes coming into the household, CSI wages were not that high at the level they were at. Their annual reviews at work were a long way off and there was no way that they could get a raise in pay before then; the budget would not allow it. Besides, they also had the fact that were going to be putting money towards their child. But she really liked the house and didn't like the fact of having to look somewhere else.**

**Calleigh walked back into the kitchen and noticed the agent's card on the table. Picking it up, she wondered if she should give him a call and see if she could talk to the owners about making a deal on the house. Despite what the agent said, she felt if she talked to the owners themselves, she might be able to get a deal. It didn't hurt to try.**

"**Hello?" **

"**David? It's Calleigh. Calleigh Wolfe. My husband and I were over this afternoon looking at the house?"**

"**Oh yes, Mrs. Wolfe. I remember you. How can I help?"**

"**Well, I was wondering if there was any chance that I could talk to the previous owners of the house."**

"**Are you looking to buy?" Asked the agent.**

"**We're thinking about it. My husband's not here right now, but I was hoping to get hold of the owners to talk about it."**

"**I'm sorry, Mrs. Wolfe, but the house has already been sold."**

**Calleigh's heart sank. "It did?"**

"**Yes, A young gentleman came in after you were here and paid a deposit on the house. I'm sorry for your inconvenience."**

"**No, it's ok…thanks for letting me know about the house."**

"**Any chance that I could help you look for another house?" The agent asked.**

"**I'll ask my husband about it. Thank you for your time. We'll let you know." And with that, Calleigh hung up the phone and reached for the freezer door.**

"**It's therapy time," she muttered under her breath as she grabbed the ice cream.**

**Ryan came home that night to find his wife sitting on the sofa, cradling her belly. A empty carton of ice cream sat by her feet.**

"**Are you ok?" He asked as he sat down next to her.**

"**Yeah…I guess." Calleigh looked over at him. **

"**What happened?"**

"**Oh, after you left for work I called the agent we saw today about the house. He said someone bought it after we left."**

"**Oh, I see." Ryan shifted himself on the sofa. "You know we couldn't afford it, so why call?"**

"**I was hoping that I could talk to the owners myself, maybe get them to come down in their price."**

"**Well, we'll just have to look somewhere else, Cal."**

"**I know, Ryan…but I was hoping to stay in this neighborhood. All the time we lived here I've realized how safe it is around here and how convenient it was for children, with the playgrounds and the schools nearby."**

**Ryan reached over and rubbed her stomach. "We can find that somewhere else. We just need to be patient."**

"**I know." Calleigh reached up and placed her hands on Ryan's hand that was still on her stomach. "You're still coming with me Monday for the check-up, aren't you?"**

"**Yes, I'm not going to miss it for the world. I want to know the sex of the baby." Ryan gave her stomach a little squeeze. He looked up at the kitchen. "You didn't make dinner, did you?"**

"**Oh, Ryan. I'm sorry. I forgot all about it."**

"**Don't worry." Ryan replied. I had some Chinese at the lab. I was concerned that you didn't eat." He picked up the empty ice cream container. "Looks like I was wrong." He looked at Calleigh, her face getting red.**

"**Um…"**

"**Let me make you something more healthy." Ryan got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. "By the way, I saw another house on sale that's not in the list. It's not near here, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out tomorrow afternoon. Are you up for it?"**

"**Sure." Answered Calleigh as she got up to join her husband in the kitchen.**

**The next day, Ryan and Calleigh drove to where Ryan said the open house would be. He stopped at the house and looked at the address. **

"**Wait, this isn't it." He said as he got back into the car.**

"**It's not?"**

"**No, let me see." Ryan pulled out a piece of paper and looked at it. "Oh. I went to the wrong house. Sorry." He started up the engine and turned around. Soon, he was driving into an area that Calleigh didn't recognize.**

"**Ryan, are you sure you know where you're going?"**

"**Yes, trust me. I know where we are." He turned onto a road that went by a local mall.**

"**Oh, I know where we are now." Calleigh said as she looked around the area. She then realized that Ryan was driving them back to the house they looked at yesterday. "What are you doing?"**

"**I'll tell you when we get there." He answered. They pulled up into the driveway of the house as Calleigh saw the agent walk out and approach them.**

"**Mr. And Mrs. Wolfe! Nice to see the two of you again." The agent reached out and shook both of their hands. "Please come inside with me."**

"**I don't understand," Calleigh said. "What's going on? Ryan?"**

"**I'll tell you when we get inside." Ryan started following the agent back into the house. Calleigh, who at this point was a mixture of confusion and pissed off, followed after them.**

"**Ryan Wolfe, you tell me what's going on right now." Calleigh grabbed his arm as the three of them reached the living room.**

"**Hold on a second, Cal." Ryan reached out with his other arm towards the agent, who placed a set of keys into Ryan's hand.**

"**She's all yours, Mr. Wolfe. Mr. Johnson called me this morning and finalized the deposit. We'll meet at his office on Tuesday, which you already know. I'll leave the two of you alone." The agent shook Ryan's hand and reached over to Calleigh to shake hers. "Pleasure doing business with the two of you. Enjoy your home. I'll see you on Tuesday." And with that, he left, leaving Ryan alone with Calleigh.**

"**What…what the hell just happened?" Calleigh looked at Ryan with wide eyes that soon were filled with anger. "What did you do, Ryan?" She snapped.**

"**I bought the house. Our house." He took a step back and away from Calleigh, not knowing what she was going to do.**

"**But the agent said last night that after we left, a young man came and bought the place."**

"**He did…I came back inside after you went and started the car, but I wouldn't say that I'm  
young. I'm almost in my thirties-" Ryan managed to say before Calleigh threw herself at him, slamming her fists onto his chest, causing him to stumble backwards and onto the floor.**

"**HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?" Calleigh screamed at Ryan, who was now looking up at her, not knowing what she was going to do next. Without thinking, he slowly stood up and embraced Calleigh as she started to sob into his chest.**

"**Shhh. Honey, I'm so sorry. I wanted it to be a surprise." He started stroking her hair slowly, waiting for her to calm down. He looked down at her. "Are you really mad at me?"**

**Calleigh let out a sniffle as she composed herself. "No, I'm sorry. I overreacted. You could have told me."**

"**I was going to tell you on Tuesday, when we had to go and sign the paperwork. But you forced my hand when you called the agent last night. I was afraid that you would ask him who bought it. True, he didn't have to tell you but you could get the truth out of anyone. You would've gotten him to confess to cheating on some 8th grade test."**

**Calleigh laughed at her husband's honesty. He knew her too well. She then remembered about the price of the house. "Ryan…how can we even afford this house? You know that we don't make enough money, not even for a mortgage on a house like this."**

"**We don't have a mortgage. The house will be paid in full on Tuesday," Ryan answered.**

"**But how-" Calleigh started to speak, but Ryan cut her off.**

"**Honey, listen to me. When my parents died, they left me some money. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for me to go to college with. That, along with the insurance settlement from my parents' death, it was put in a trust fund that I would have access to when I turned 21. Being the stubborn, OCD freak that I am, I put myself through college after I finished high school because I didn't want to wait until I had the trust fund. I never touched the money when I turned 21 and when my grandfather died a few years later, I took the money I got from his estate and put it with my trust fund. I could have easily lived off what was there but I wanted to support myself. I thought that I could save the money for something important. It was hard, but holding out on the money paid off."**

**Calleigh looked at her husband; an astonished look appeared on her face at what he had told her. "Ryan, how much money did you have?"**

"**About 1.7 million," he answered. "Give or take a couple thousand. My family wasn't rich, but I invested well with what I received. I was just waiting for the right moment to use it. When I realized that you wanted this house, I decided that-"**

**Ryan was suddenly cut off mid-sentence as Calleigh pulled him down and locked her lips with his. After a minute of heavy kissing, Calleigh broke away. "Did I ever tell you that I love you?"**

"**Oh, I never hear it enough," Ryan joked. "You probably love me for the money."**

"**Bastard." Calleigh said as she grinned. "How did I ever deserve you?'**

"**I should ask myself the same question." Ryan pulled her back to his chest. "Please forgive me."**

"**Don't ever do that to me again," Calleigh said as she looked up at Ryan. "What should we do now?"**

"**How about we go upstairs and decide which room will be our child's. After all, tomorrow we find out if we need to paint it blue or pink." Ryan headed for the stairs, putting both of his hands behind him for Calleigh to grab and take hold of as he started to go up.**

_**to be continued…**_


	14. Love Hurts Love Heals

**CHAPTER 14**

**As Ryan turned off the water in the shower, he could hear Calleigh talking to somebody in the bedroom. "Is there someone here?" he thought to himself, before he realized that she was talking on the phone. He then heard Calleigh open the bathroom door.**

"**Hold on, I think he just got out of the shower." Calleigh poked her head into the bathroom. "Ryan?"**

"**Yeah, what is it?" Ryan pulled open the shower curtain and reached for a towel to dry himself.**

"**Mr. Johnson is on the phone. He says he needs to talk to you. It's important."**

"**Hold on for a second." Ryan quickly toweled his head, before reaching out for the phone. "Phil? What's up?"**

**Calleigh took a step back and eyed Ryan's uncovered body as he cradled the phone underneath his ear and wrapped the towel around his waist. Suddenly, his face turned somber.**

"**Is she going to be all right? Oh thank god. Yes, of course. I'll call the agency and reschedule. Friday will work. No, it's ok…I know that this is more important. Call me when you get back. I'll leave you a message. Take care." Ryan turned the phone off and gave it back to Calleigh.**

"**What happened?" She asked as she took the phone.**

"**Phil's granddaughter was in a car accident last night. He's flying up to Boston to see her."**

"**Is she ok?"**

"**From what he told me, she got knocked around pretty bad. She's stable, but he wants to be there for her. He said that he'll be back in few days. Obviously, I have to cancel our meeting for tomorrow."**

"**Well that's understandable." Calleigh replied.**

**Ryan looked at the bathroom clock. "I'll call David in a few minutes. Hopefully, he's already up."**

**Calleigh let out a yawn. "Do you want me to do anything?"**

"**No. I just need to call David and reschedule. Everything will be fine." Ryan answered as he followed Calleigh back into the bedroom. **

**Calleigh sat down on the bed as Ryan removed his towel and opened the dresser. "Are you going back to bed?" He asked as he pulled out a pair of boxers. Calleigh had the day off and only got up because of the phone call.**

"**Yeah…I want to get some more beauty sleep." **

"**Lucky." Ryan pulled on his boxers and reached for a pair of socks. "I wish that I can have beauty sleep. I barely get the ugly sleep as it is. I'm surprised you want more sleep after the ten hours that you just had."**

**Calleigh chuckled at his comment. "Hey, you try walking around all the time with a bowling ball strapped to your stomach. You get tired a lot more often."**

"**I know." Ryan sat down next to his wife and kissed her. "I'll be back around two to pick you up for the appointment."**

**Calleigh reached up and ran her hand through her husband's still damp hair. "Are you excited?"**

"**I am." He answered. "I can't wait to find out what we're having. Aren't you?"**

"**Yes, silly. I don't care what sex the baby is. I just want to make sure that our child is healthy."**

"**Of course." Ryan stood up and walked over to the closet. "I'm going to get finished with getting dressed. I'll call David in the kitchen so that you can sleep."**

"**Thank you." Calleigh laid back down onto the bed and pulled the covers back up. After a few minutes, Ryan walked back over and knelt down over the now sleeping Calleigh and gave her another kiss. "See you later," he whispered.**

_**-a few hours later-**_

"**Hey, H…do you have a minute?" Ryan asked as he knocked on the doorframe of Horatio's office.**

**Horatio looked up from his paperwork. "Sure. What do you want?" Ever since Ryan's marriage to Calleigh, Horatio and Ryan grew closer to each other, evolving into something that was more than a teacher/student relationship. But there were still boundaries between the two of them due to Horatio being the boss. However, Horatio always knew of Ryan's background and took it upon himself to be some sort of father figure for him.**

"**Please have a seat." Horatio placed his paperwork to the side as Ryan sat down.**

"**Calleigh and I need to have Friday afternoon off."**

"**What is this in regards to, Ryan?"**

"**We need to go see my financial advisor and finalize the deal for the house."**

"**So you _did_ get the house. Congratulations." Horatio smiled. He had stopped by work Saturday night when Ryan was there and was told the whole story. "I don't see a problem with you taking the afternoon off. By the way, how did Calleigh take the news?"**

**Ryan looked away from Horatio and let out a little sigh, which caused Horatio to laugh a little. "Sounds like she took it well in her own way, Ryan. You should know by now how she hates surprises."**

"**I know, H. Everything worked out just fine…actually, I was going to ask you for tomorrow afternoon off to do the paperwork, but a situation came up and therefore we need to do it on Friday instead."**

"**Something wrong?" Horatio leaned in a little closer to Ryan.**

"**Oh, no. Nothing on our end. It just has to wait until Friday."**

"**Good. Glad to see that things will be ok for the two of you." Horatio looked at the time. "You're leaving in an hour, correct?"**

"**Yeah. I'm taking Calleigh to the doctor. We're going to find out the sex of the baby today."**

**Horatio reached out with his hand and placed it on Ryan's. "If it's a boy, you'll name it after me, right? That is, if you still want a job," he said in a serious voice.**

**Ryan studied Horatio's face, wondering if he was kidding or not. Then Horatio grinned and gave Ryan a little wink, causing Ryan to exhale the breath that he was holding in.**

"**Ryan, you should know by now that I'm not always serious."**

"**I know, but I can't always tell with you."**

"**But seriously, name the kid after me or you're fired." Horatio said as he laughed.**

**Ryan smirked at Horatio. "I hope we have a girl."**

"**Get out of here and get back to work." Horatio said as reached for his paperwork.**

**Ryan got up to leave. "Thanks for Friday afternoon, H."**

"**No problem. Good luck at the doctor's."**

**It was now the mid-afternoon and Ryan and Calleigh were at the clinic. Ryan sat in a chair by Calleigh as the nurse ran tests and asked Calleigh the usual questions. She then started up the ultrasound.**

"**Are you two ready?" She asked.**

"**Yes we are." Calleigh answered.**

"**I'll get the doctor in here to check your report. Then he'll run your ultrasound." **

**The nurse left the room as Ryan stood up. He reached down and grabbed Calleigh's hand.**

"**Are you ready?"**

**Calleigh was about to answer when the doctor walked in. She took one look at him and realized that it was the doctor who saw her the last time she was pregnant. She felt a chill run through her body.**

"**Hi, Calleigh! Nice to see you again."**

**Calleigh quickly composed herself before she spoke. "Dr. Feldman. Nice to see you again, too. Where's Dr. Ericsson?"**

"**Peter was called into a emergency delivery. Since I knew your background, I was more than happy to fill in." The doctor looked over her paperwork. "Everything looks good. Vitals seem to be strong. Are you two ready to see your baby?" The doctor reached for the ultrasound.**

"**Yes, yes we are." Said Ryan.**

**The doctor rubbed the gel onto Calleigh's abdomen and started the procedure. After a few seconds, the picture focused and soon they could see a baby on the screen. "Looks good," the doctor said as he moved the scanner around. "The baby appears healthy. Did you two want to know the baby's sex?"**

"**Yes." Both said in unison before looking at each other and chuckling.**

**The scanner moved to a spot and stopped as the doctor looked at the area. "You two are having a boy. Congratulations."**

"**A boy!" Ryan said excitedly. He leaned down and kissed Calleigh.**

**The doctor turned off the machine and handed Calleigh a towel to clean herself. "I'll have the nurse come in and finish your paperwork. After that, you'll be ready to go."**

"**Thank you Dr. Feldman," replied Calleigh.**

**The doctor wrote some notes down on the clipboard. "You're quite welcome, Calleigh. This time around, everything seems to be fine. No problems."**

**Calleigh felt Ryan's grip on her hand disappear. She looked up at him, his face full of confusion. "This time around?" He managed to get the words out.**

"**Wait…you're not the father from the last time?" The doctor asked. He glanced at both of them. "I'm sorry. I thought you were."**

"**Wh-what is he talking about, Cal? What last time?" Ryan looked at Calleigh. Her face was white as a ghost: she never told him about the baby.**

**At that moment, the nurse came in as Ryan backed away from Calleigh. Without a word, Ryan turned and headed for the door.**

"**Ryan? Ryan, wait!" Calleigh said as she got up and ran after Ryan who was now in the hallway.**

"**Ryan…please let me explain," Calleigh pleaded as she grabbed his arm, only to have him violently pull himself away from her grasp. **

"**Don't touch me," Ryan responded in a voice that was hollow; void of any emotion. He kept walking down the hall. "Leave me alone."**

"**But, Ryan-"**

"**LEAVE ME ALONE!"**

"**Caine." Horatio said as he answered the call. "Calleigh? Calm down. What's wrong. Can you say that again? He found out. Wait…he did what? Hold on, I'll pick you up. What is the address. Ok. Is there someone with you right now? Ok. I'll be right there." Horatio closed his phone.**

"**Something wrong, H.?" Asked Eric as he walked over.**

"**A situation came up that I need to take care of." Horatio paused as he looked around at the crime scene that they were at. "I think we have a handle on everything here. Tell Frank to take over. I'll meet you all back at headquarters."**

"**You got it."**

**Horatio drove over to the clinic to find Calleigh sitting with a nurse in the waiting room. As he approached her, she got up and hugged him. "Oh, Horatio…"**

"**Shh. It will be ok." Horatio looked at the nurse. "Is she ok to leave?"**

**The nurse nodded her head. "Thank you, ma'am." Horatio turned with Calleigh to leave.**

"**-and he yelled at me to leave him alone and then he just took off." Calleigh tearfully said as she recalled to Horatio the full story as he drove her back to her apartment.**

"**Cal, can you really blame him? I mean he could have handled the situation better, but still…leaving you there like that."**

"**I blame myself." Calleigh wiped the tears from her eyes. "I should have told him from the beginning. I kept putting it aside, thinking I could always tell him at the right moment. If only that doctor wasn't there-"**

"**You really can't say it was the doctor's fault," Horatio interrupted.**

"**I know, I know." Calleigh answered. "But what am I going to tell him? I don't want him to leave me."**

"**Calleigh…Ryan wouldn't do that. I would think that he's mature enough not to leave you over this."**

**Horatio pulled into the apartment parking lot and Calleigh noticed that Ryan's car wasn't there.**

"**He's not here, Horatio."**

"**When he took off, he probably knew that I would come and take you home. Have you tried calling him?"**

"**Of course, Horatio. But he won't answer his phone."**

"**I'm not surprised. Let me get you inside and we'll go from there."**

**Horatio went inside with Calleigh and sat with her for a while to make sure that she was ok and to see if Ryan would call. Horatio tried a few times himself to reach Ryan, but it was to no good. Calleigh then gave Horatio a piece of paper and told him that he might be at the address that was written down. It was worth a shot instead of checking every bar in the city, Horatio thought to himself. He then left to find Ryan.**

**He arrived at the address and sure enough, Ryan's car sat in the driveway. Horatio got out and approached the front door. He knocked. There was no answer. He let himself in.**

"**Wolfe? Ryan?" He called out but got no answer. He closed the door behind him and walked down the hallway. "Ryan?" He called out again as he turned the corner and saw Ryan sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring out of the living room window. Horatio walked up to Ryan and sat down beside him, looking over his face. Ryan kept staring straight ahead, as if he was in a trance.**

**Horatio softly placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "How long have you been here, son?" To hear someone calling him 'son' was too much for Ryan. He lowered his head and started to cry. Horatio pulled out a kleenex from his jacket and handed it to Ryan.**

"**Are you ok?"**

**Ryan wiped his face and looked at Horatio. "She betrayed me, H."**

"**That's not true."**

"**I'm her husband and her closest friend. We tell each other everything and she keeps this away from me. Like I wouldn't understand. It's like a slap in the face. This feels no different to me than if I were to walk in on her with another guy."**

**Horatio slowly nodded at Ryan's words. He couldn't say anything at the moment.**

**Ryan continued. "It's almost like she has to treat me like a child. We've been though so much together and she thinks that she can't come to me with this. To have to hear this in a room full of strangers…" Ryan stopped talking and winced as he replayed the events inside his mind.**

**Horatio felt sad to see Ryan in so much agony. He slowly put his arm around him. "I'm sorry that you had to find out about it this way."**

**Ryan looked at Horatio. "Did you know?"**

"**Yes, I did. And to my knowledge, I was the only one who did know."**

**Ryan looked around the room. "I just don't know what to do. I mean, we were going to sign on this place."**

**Horatio gave Ryan a stern look. "You're not changing your mind, are you?"**

"**No…I just…I have a lot of mixed emotions inside and I can't figure them all out right now." Ryan paused. "You weren't the father, were you?"**

"**No, I wasn't. But it's not for me to say who it was. That is up to Calleigh to tell you. All I can say is that when she miscarried-"**

"**She miscarried?"**

**Horatio continued. "Yes. And as time went on she looked at life with more and more increasing doubt and no matter what I tried to do, she would keep me at arms length at times. She was in a lot of pain. And then you came along. And over time, I would see the old Calleigh come back more and more."**

**Horatio gave Ryan a small smile. "Why do you think I told you once that you bring peace and happiness into her life? For a long time, she's kept this inside of her, afraid of what you would do or say if you found out. And you did. And now she's afraid that she's lost you forever. You want to throw it all away because of one mistake?"**

**Ryan sat quietly for a few seconds. "No…I can't. I love her too much. She all I ever had."**

"**I didn't think that you would. Now dry your eyes and let me take you back to her. She needs you right now. Now more than ever."**

**Horatio stood up and extended his hand. "If you're ready, take my hand." Ryan looked down at the floor before looking up at Horatio. Without a word, he reached out for Horatio's hand.**

**Horatio pulled Ryan up and gave him a hug. "I'm proud of you. You know that, right?"**

"**Yes I do." Ryan answered.**

"**Always remember that. Let's go."**

**The two left the house and Horatio drove them back to the apartment. Upon reaching the door, Horatio stopped. "I'll see you later Ryan."**

"**Thanks again, H."**

"**You take care of yourself and each other." And with that, Horatio turned and walked away.**

**Ryan walked into his apartment and looked into the living room, Calleigh was sitting on the couch, looking off to the side; a pile of tissues surrounded her. As Ryan shut the door, the noise made Calleigh turn and look at Ryan. She got up and approached Ryan, unsure at what he was going to say or do. As Ryan reached out with his arms, Calleigh let out a cry of relief, tears falling down her face as Ryan wrapped his arms around her. They stood there for several minutes quietly before Calleigh broke the silence.**

"**I need to tell you something," she said.**

_**to be continued…**_


End file.
